By Adam Heist
What percentage of a company’s assets is fixed assets versus liquid assets? We need to know how much is being invested in the company over the long term. Another important factor is your fixed assets as a percentage of your total assets.
One of the standard measures that you will find in the industry is the percentage of long term debt compared to equity. This ratio will immediately demonstrate the risk the company is undertaking.
Of course, this can only be done taken into account the amount of fixed capital necessary in a given industry. A service type company or distribution company is not going to need as much fixed capital as a manufacturing company.
Manufacturing companies take raw material or purchased parts, and provide some value added through labor and machinery. The product is then sold directly to their customers or to distributors of the product.
After we get an idea of the supply chain efficiency, we want to look at manufacturing efficiency, which we can understand by calculating the number of days it takes a company to send products through its factories.
We want to work up what is the total cash cycle, which is how many days before the goods are manufactured and sold.If a company can knock thirty days off the cash cycle, they could offer significant cash incentives to gain concessions from some key suppliers.
It is this type of analysis that brings tremendous value to the total Cash cycle. One example of a company that has successfully used this type of analysis is Dell Computer.
Dell has built their focus on cash conversion to capture significant market share from their competitors, and build a business model that is allowing them to move beyond personal computers and into other retail electronics, while still dominating their market.
Adding in the supply chain efficiencies, Dell’s materials and parts move through their warehouse, manufacturing, and distribution to the customer in just over one week, while their competitor takes almost a full two weeks longer.
Companies that are publicly traded companies compete not only in terms of sales, but with each other in the equity market. It may be appropriate to look at the individual operating trends of the competitors in the industry.
If they are privately owned, you can figure out their stats by looking at their publicly owned competitors. By understanding their industry, it is much easier to sell to them.
Adam Heist is a freelance writer with many years of experience writing articles on buckingham homeloans related subjects. Take a few moments now to visit our site and see what we have in store for you. http://enewhomeowner.co.uk/
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
The Universal Law of Vision
From LifeSkill Institute, Inc
“Where there is no vision, the people perish;but (they) that keepeth the law, happy (are they.)” —Proverbs 29:18
Where you have no vision of where you want to go with your life, you will be miserable and fail to achieve a better life. Your vision of the life you would like to experience must be crystal clear in your mind.
See the vision in great detail. Internalize your vision through your senses. Know how it looks, feels, smells, sounds, and tastes.
By fully expressing your vision through your senses—your feeling nature—you energize it and har- monize it with the universal force that makes it happen in your life experience. The “law” referred to in the second line of this scripture, is the First Universal Law of Success, the Law of Thought and Manifestation.
What you recognize (your vision), you energize (through your feelings). What you energize (through your feelings), you realize (in your life experience).
The first aspect of vision is specificity.
“And the Lord answered ... Write the vision, and make it plain upon tablets that (they) may run that readeth it. For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie; though it tarry, wait for it, because it will surely come, it will not tarry.” —Habakkuk 2:2,3
You must be specific about your vision. Write it down clearly and in great detail, that you may execute your plan to realize it. Have faith and know with assurance that your vision will be realized at the proper time.
It will surely happen, if you just do not quit. The aspect of specificity is further expressed through your goals.
“Where there is no vision, the people perish;but (they) that keepeth the law, happy (are they.)” —Proverbs 29:18
Where you have no vision of where you want to go with your life, you will be miserable and fail to achieve a better life. Your vision of the life you would like to experience must be crystal clear in your mind.
See the vision in great detail. Internalize your vision through your senses. Know how it looks, feels, smells, sounds, and tastes.
By fully expressing your vision through your senses—your feeling nature—you energize it and har- monize it with the universal force that makes it happen in your life experience. The “law” referred to in the second line of this scripture, is the First Universal Law of Success, the Law of Thought and Manifestation.
What you recognize (your vision), you energize (through your feelings). What you energize (through your feelings), you realize (in your life experience).
The Universal Law of Vision Has Two Aspects: Specificity and Imagination.
“And the Lord answered ... Write the vision, and make it plain upon tablets that (they) may run that readeth it. For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie; though it tarry, wait for it, because it will surely come, it will not tarry.” —Habakkuk 2:2,3
You must be specific about your vision. Write it down clearly and in great detail, that you may execute your plan to realize it. Have faith and know with assurance that your vision will be realized at the proper time.
It will surely happen, if you just do not quit. The aspect of specificity is further expressed through your goals.
It is far easier to hit a target you can see than to hit one you cannot see
Goals
A goal is the line or place at which a race or trip is ended. Goals are the stepping-stones that guide you to your vision of who you are, what you are about, and whatever you want to achieve. You may make a goal of anything you wish to accomplish.
Once you specifically define your vision of yourself—your better life—you should establish goals as the specific steps that will lead you to the realization of your vision.Goals provide excellent opportunities to build your self-confidence.
When you complete yourself with respect to a particular goal, by accomplishing it, you validate your own abilities and increase your self-confidence. As your self-confidence grows, so does your ability to successfully tackle more difficult goals.
Develop the habit of being goal-oriented. As your goals are accomplished, you grow and progress toward the vision of life you have for yourself. Where there are no goals to be systematically achieved, your vision of a better life cannot be realized.
Bottles That Won't Break the Bank
By Karen Page and Andrew Dornenburg
We love hearing from you. And judging from the e-mails we've received since this column began two months ago, many of you have price on your mind.
"Would you consider a series on wines under $15 a bottle?" writes Marc Stern of McLean, echoing similar requests we've received. "Finding good everyday affordable table wine is my objective -- with an occasional splurge on a higher-priced bottle, just to keep the search for the Holy Grail alive. . . ."
Ask and you shall receive.
These days our home is filled with dozens of bottles awaiting their turn to be sampled in one of our roundups of wines grouped by style, grape, country or food pairing.
But before we started concentrating on tasting different wines every night, we'd often open an Osborne Solaz ($8) -- a surprisingly well-balanced Spanish red with soft tannins, made from tempranillo and cabernet sauvignon -- with chicken, salmon or steak.
Our house white is Loosen Bros. "Dr. L" Riesling ($12), which we prefer over Rieslings at twice the price, and we've more recently come to enjoy Nora Albarino ($15), a Spanish "Dr. L" stunt double that complements spicy foods almost as well.
Even with such reliable favorites of our own, though, few things are more exciting than being turned on to beloved bargains of other wine lovers.
A few weeks ago, Louis Alexander, general manager of Dish, introduced us to some terrific, gently priced wines by the glass at the River Inn's restaurant in the West End.
Thus having earned our trust, he was one of the first people we asked in e-mail interviews about what they like to drink at home for less than $15.
Alexander, a passionate home cook, counts pork spareribs as one of his specialties. "One of my recipes for dry-rub pork spareribs is perfect paired with 2004 Edna Valley Vineyard Syrah[$15]," he says. "This wine's smoky black cherry and blackberry flavors with caramel and vanilla notes go really well with grilled pork."
Todd Thrasher, general manager and sommelier of Restaurant Eve in Alexandria, also likes to cook at home. "One of my favorite things to make is pizza, for which I usually keep a few bottles of Hill of Content Shiraz[$14] on hand," Thrasher says.
"I also love to drink Ken Forrester Petite Chenin chenin blanc from South Africa [$13] with grilled prawns while sitting out back on my patio. And just for sipping on a hot summer afternoon, I turn to Mulderbosch Cabernet Sauvignon Rosé[$13], which tastes like Bing cherries and strawberries in a glass."
The Inn at Little Washington's sommelier, Sabato Sagaria, also claims to make a mean sausage pizza, which he says he'll pair with one of two favorite pizza wines. "From Spain, I'll open a Casa de la Ermita Castillo de Jumillia Crianza[$13]," Sagaria says.
"From Italy, I like the Di Majo Norante Sangiovese[$10]. Both are medium- to full-bodied wines that have a lot of character without aggressive tannins, which makes them approachable on their own or with cheese."
Cafe Atlantico's sommelier, Jill Zimorski, enjoys Crios de Susana Balbo Torrontes ($10) from Argentina. "It's floral on the nose, yet dry -- like viognier in some ways, but certainly a lesser-known and therefore less-costly varietal," she says.
"I like it with seafood that has some natural sweetness: crab, lobster or scallops. It's delicious with a seafood salad or on its own as a patio quaffer."
To Hank's Oyster Bar chef-owner Jamie Leeds, summer means casual patio dining with her family and friends -- and Muscadet. " Foliette Clos de la Fontaine Muscadet Sevre et Maine[$14] is my favorite warm-weather wine of choice because it is crisp, clean and refreshing," she writes. "I love it with West Coast oysters."
Andy Myers, sommelier at CityZen at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel, introduced us to the lovely 2005 Cantina del Taburno Falanghina from Italy ($15). "I love it with grilled squid or shrimp or a nice, simple roasted fish," he tells us.
Dan Mesches, president of Star Restaurant Group (which owns Indigo Landing and Zola), and his wife, Kate, are fans of New World sauvignon blanc. "We both find that Thai food really enhances the fruit-forward qualities of these wines. Spicy squid salad is a home run with the Jibe[$13] or Brancott Sauvignon Blanc[$8]," he says. "Otherwise, Burgans Albariño[$11] is nice if you want to cut back on the fruit but still get some of those flavors. We'll also make a warm potato and kielbasa salad with a garlic-mustard dressing, which goes well with Elsa Malbec[$10]."
In the end, cost doesn't matter as much as the pleasure a wine brings you. "There's nothing better than taking your shoes off after a long day at work and sitting down to a good rosé," writes Nadine Brown, sommelier at Charlie Palmer Steak. " SoloRosa Rosé from California [$15] is good with whatever you are eating: fish, salads, duck, Thai, Indian, cheese -- anything!"
To us, that's priceless.
Click on the following to buy the above wines:-
Internet Wines and Spirits, Wine Globe & Wine.com
Andrew Dornenburg and Karen Page are the award-winning authors of "What to Drink With What You Eat," the first book ever to be named both the IACP cookbook of the year and the Georges Duboeuf wine book of the year. They can be reached through their Web site,http://www.becomingachef.com, or atfood@washpost.com.
We love hearing from you. And judging from the e-mails we've received since this column began two months ago, many of you have price on your mind.
"Would you consider a series on wines under $15 a bottle?" writes Marc Stern of McLean, echoing similar requests we've received. "Finding good everyday affordable table wine is my objective -- with an occasional splurge on a higher-priced bottle, just to keep the search for the Holy Grail alive. . . ."
Ask and you shall receive.
These days our home is filled with dozens of bottles awaiting their turn to be sampled in one of our roundups of wines grouped by style, grape, country or food pairing.
But before we started concentrating on tasting different wines every night, we'd often open an Osborne Solaz ($8) -- a surprisingly well-balanced Spanish red with soft tannins, made from tempranillo and cabernet sauvignon -- with chicken, salmon or steak.
Our house white is Loosen Bros. "Dr. L" Riesling ($12), which we prefer over Rieslings at twice the price, and we've more recently come to enjoy Nora Albarino ($15), a Spanish "Dr. L" stunt double that complements spicy foods almost as well.
Even with such reliable favorites of our own, though, few things are more exciting than being turned on to beloved bargains of other wine lovers.
A few weeks ago, Louis Alexander, general manager of Dish, introduced us to some terrific, gently priced wines by the glass at the River Inn's restaurant in the West End.
Thus having earned our trust, he was one of the first people we asked in e-mail interviews about what they like to drink at home for less than $15.
Alexander, a passionate home cook, counts pork spareribs as one of his specialties. "One of my recipes for dry-rub pork spareribs is perfect paired with 2004 Edna Valley Vineyard Syrah[$15]," he says. "This wine's smoky black cherry and blackberry flavors with caramel and vanilla notes go really well with grilled pork."
Todd Thrasher, general manager and sommelier of Restaurant Eve in Alexandria, also likes to cook at home. "One of my favorite things to make is pizza, for which I usually keep a few bottles of Hill of Content Shiraz[$14] on hand," Thrasher says.
"I also love to drink Ken Forrester Petite Chenin chenin blanc from South Africa [$13] with grilled prawns while sitting out back on my patio. And just for sipping on a hot summer afternoon, I turn to Mulderbosch Cabernet Sauvignon Rosé[$13], which tastes like Bing cherries and strawberries in a glass."
The Inn at Little Washington's sommelier, Sabato Sagaria, also claims to make a mean sausage pizza, which he says he'll pair with one of two favorite pizza wines. "From Spain, I'll open a Casa de la Ermita Castillo de Jumillia Crianza[$13]," Sagaria says.
"From Italy, I like the Di Majo Norante Sangiovese[$10]. Both are medium- to full-bodied wines that have a lot of character without aggressive tannins, which makes them approachable on their own or with cheese."
Cafe Atlantico's sommelier, Jill Zimorski, enjoys Crios de Susana Balbo Torrontes ($10) from Argentina. "It's floral on the nose, yet dry -- like viognier in some ways, but certainly a lesser-known and therefore less-costly varietal," she says.
"I like it with seafood that has some natural sweetness: crab, lobster or scallops. It's delicious with a seafood salad or on its own as a patio quaffer."
To Hank's Oyster Bar chef-owner Jamie Leeds, summer means casual patio dining with her family and friends -- and Muscadet. " Foliette Clos de la Fontaine Muscadet Sevre et Maine[$14] is my favorite warm-weather wine of choice because it is crisp, clean and refreshing," she writes. "I love it with West Coast oysters."
Andy Myers, sommelier at CityZen at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel, introduced us to the lovely 2005 Cantina del Taburno Falanghina from Italy ($15). "I love it with grilled squid or shrimp or a nice, simple roasted fish," he tells us.
Dan Mesches, president of Star Restaurant Group (which owns Indigo Landing and Zola), and his wife, Kate, are fans of New World sauvignon blanc. "We both find that Thai food really enhances the fruit-forward qualities of these wines. Spicy squid salad is a home run with the Jibe[$13] or Brancott Sauvignon Blanc[$8]," he says. "Otherwise, Burgans Albariño[$11] is nice if you want to cut back on the fruit but still get some of those flavors. We'll also make a warm potato and kielbasa salad with a garlic-mustard dressing, which goes well with Elsa Malbec[$10]."
In the end, cost doesn't matter as much as the pleasure a wine brings you. "There's nothing better than taking your shoes off after a long day at work and sitting down to a good rosé," writes Nadine Brown, sommelier at Charlie Palmer Steak. " SoloRosa Rosé from California [$15] is good with whatever you are eating: fish, salads, duck, Thai, Indian, cheese -- anything!"
To us, that's priceless.
Click on the following to buy the above wines:-
Internet Wines and Spirits, Wine Globe & Wine.com
Andrew Dornenburg and Karen Page are the award-winning authors of "What to Drink With What You Eat," the first book ever to be named both the IACP cookbook of the year and the Georges Duboeuf wine book of the year. They can be reached through their Web site,http://www.becomingachef.com, or atfood@washpost.com.
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
How Drivers Can Best Cut Costs and Gas Consumption
Americans can take steps to reduce the nation's oil import dependence not only by supporting CAFÉ (federal corporate average fuel economy standards) increases, but also by maintaining their vehicles and driving them more economically. Below are CFA's top ten gas-saving tips:-
1. Check Your Air Filter: A clean air filter can improve gas mileage by as much as 10% and nearly one in four cars need an air filter replacement. Changing a dirty air filter can save the equivalent of 28 cents a gallon or carry you 23 more miles on a typical tank of gas.
2. Straighten Out: Poor alignment not only causes tires to wear out more quickly, but also forces your engine to work harder, which can reduce gas mileage by as much as 10%. Fixing improper alignment would be like saving 28 cents per gallon.
3. Tune Up: A properly tuned engine can improve mileage by 4% which is like saving 11 cents a gallon.
4. Pump 'em Up: More than one-quarter of vehicles have improperly inflated tires. The average under inflation of 7.5 lbs. causes a loss of 2.8% in fuel efficiency. Properly inflating problem tires is like knocking 8 cents off a gallon of gas.
5. Check Your Cap: It is estimated that nearly 17% of cars on the road have broken or missing gas caps, which reduce gas mileage as well as possibly harming the environment. Fixing or replacing a faulty gas cap is like saving 2 cents per gallon.
6. Lose Weight: For every 100 extra pounds carried around, your vehicle loses 1-2% in fuel efficiency. For every 100 lbs you unload, you’re saving the equivalent of 4 cents per gallon.
7. Don't Speed: For every 5 mph you reduce highway speed, you can reduce fuel consumption by 7%. If you typically drive 70 on the highway and slow down to 65, it’s the equivalent of saving 19 cents a gallon.
8. Drive Smoother: The smoother you accelerate and decelerate, the better your gas mileage, with potential gas savings of 33% on the highway and 5% around town. Consumers who currently drive erratically can pocket the equivalent 48 cents a gallon by driving more smoothly.
9. Foot Off: Riding with your foot on the brake not only wears out brakes but can also reduce gas consumption by as much as 35%. If you kick the habit of driving with your foot on the brake, you’ll get the equivalent of 96 cents per gallon in savings.
10. Don't Idle: If stopped off the road for more than 30 seconds, turn off the engine. Don't "warm up" your car before driving -- it is not necessary. For every two minutes that you don’t idle, you’ll save the equivalent of nearly 1 cent per gallon.
"We estimate that if Americans practiced these tips gas mileage could be improved in total by about 13%," said Jack Gillis, CFA's Director of Public Affairs.
*********
CFA is a non-profit association of 300 consumer groups established in 1968 to
advance the consumer interest through research, education, and advocacy.
1. Check Your Air Filter: A clean air filter can improve gas mileage by as much as 10% and nearly one in four cars need an air filter replacement. Changing a dirty air filter can save the equivalent of 28 cents a gallon or carry you 23 more miles on a typical tank of gas.
2. Straighten Out: Poor alignment not only causes tires to wear out more quickly, but also forces your engine to work harder, which can reduce gas mileage by as much as 10%. Fixing improper alignment would be like saving 28 cents per gallon.
3. Tune Up: A properly tuned engine can improve mileage by 4% which is like saving 11 cents a gallon.
4. Pump 'em Up: More than one-quarter of vehicles have improperly inflated tires. The average under inflation of 7.5 lbs. causes a loss of 2.8% in fuel efficiency. Properly inflating problem tires is like knocking 8 cents off a gallon of gas.
5. Check Your Cap: It is estimated that nearly 17% of cars on the road have broken or missing gas caps, which reduce gas mileage as well as possibly harming the environment. Fixing or replacing a faulty gas cap is like saving 2 cents per gallon.
6. Lose Weight: For every 100 extra pounds carried around, your vehicle loses 1-2% in fuel efficiency. For every 100 lbs you unload, you’re saving the equivalent of 4 cents per gallon.
7. Don't Speed: For every 5 mph you reduce highway speed, you can reduce fuel consumption by 7%. If you typically drive 70 on the highway and slow down to 65, it’s the equivalent of saving 19 cents a gallon.
8. Drive Smoother: The smoother you accelerate and decelerate, the better your gas mileage, with potential gas savings of 33% on the highway and 5% around town. Consumers who currently drive erratically can pocket the equivalent 48 cents a gallon by driving more smoothly.
9. Foot Off: Riding with your foot on the brake not only wears out brakes but can also reduce gas consumption by as much as 35%. If you kick the habit of driving with your foot on the brake, you’ll get the equivalent of 96 cents per gallon in savings.
10. Don't Idle: If stopped off the road for more than 30 seconds, turn off the engine. Don't "warm up" your car before driving -- it is not necessary. For every two minutes that you don’t idle, you’ll save the equivalent of nearly 1 cent per gallon.
"We estimate that if Americans practiced these tips gas mileage could be improved in total by about 13%," said Jack Gillis, CFA's Director of Public Affairs.
*********
CFA is a non-profit association of 300 consumer groups established in 1968 to
advance the consumer interest through research, education, and advocacy.
Finance and The Power of Compounding
By Adam Heist
The simplest and most powerful tool to understand when investing is the power of compounding. This is such a strong method that even Einstein called it the greatest mathematical discovery of all time.
I tend to agree because unlike calculus, everybody can get, and regularly use this concept. For compounding to work only two things are required. Firstly, it is the reinvestment of earnings and secondly it is time.
The longer you give your investments the more powerful this tool becomes. This is much easier to understand with an example. Lets say you invested $10,000 which earned 6% annually. This amount comes to $600 after one year.
Now if you didn’t take out your interest earnings and reinvested that amount then in the next year you will earn $636 as interest income. That extra $36 comes from the fact that you had reinvested.
Sure, this sounds like peanuts right now but consider the fact that if you save $10,000 in your mid twenties and forgot about it, (meaning you kept reinvesting the interest) then forty years later that $10,000 would become $109,028 and some cents.
Whereas if you had kept taking your measly $600 out every year, then you would still have just $10,000 and have taken out a total of $24,000 during those 40 years. So the difference in earning becomes as big as $75,000 and some change!
That is no longer peanuts by any standard and will go far to help you live comfortably in your retirement years.This calculation has ofcourse taken in to consideration that fact that the interest is compounded annually.
If the interest is compounded more frequently, then the amount earned would be larger. The key thing here is that you have given your money time to grow. Lets take another example where two people invest the same amount of money but at a different stage in their lives.
Sally invests $15,000 when she turns 25 and is earning an annual rate of interest of 5.5%. James does the same but when he turns 35. When they both turn 50 Sally has $23,713.74 more than James.
That is because Sally earned $47,200.89 and James earned $23,487.15. So Sally has already earned more than double of what James has earned and they are not even at retiring age yet.
In another 10 years Sally will have nearly $100,000 in her bank account while James will have nearly $60,000 giving Sally a cool extra $40,000 to live her golden years with. The longer we give compounding investments a chance, the more they return us in dividends.
The simplest and most powerful tool to understand when investing is the power of compounding. This is such a strong method that even Einstein called it the greatest mathematical discovery of all time.
I tend to agree because unlike calculus, everybody can get, and regularly use this concept. For compounding to work only two things are required. Firstly, it is the reinvestment of earnings and secondly it is time.
The longer you give your investments the more powerful this tool becomes. This is much easier to understand with an example. Lets say you invested $10,000 which earned 6% annually. This amount comes to $600 after one year.
Now if you didn’t take out your interest earnings and reinvested that amount then in the next year you will earn $636 as interest income. That extra $36 comes from the fact that you had reinvested.
Sure, this sounds like peanuts right now but consider the fact that if you save $10,000 in your mid twenties and forgot about it, (meaning you kept reinvesting the interest) then forty years later that $10,000 would become $109,028 and some cents.
Whereas if you had kept taking your measly $600 out every year, then you would still have just $10,000 and have taken out a total of $24,000 during those 40 years. So the difference in earning becomes as big as $75,000 and some change!
That is no longer peanuts by any standard and will go far to help you live comfortably in your retirement years.This calculation has ofcourse taken in to consideration that fact that the interest is compounded annually.
If the interest is compounded more frequently, then the amount earned would be larger. The key thing here is that you have given your money time to grow. Lets take another example where two people invest the same amount of money but at a different stage in their lives.
Sally invests $15,000 when she turns 25 and is earning an annual rate of interest of 5.5%. James does the same but when he turns 35. When they both turn 50 Sally has $23,713.74 more than James.
That is because Sally earned $47,200.89 and James earned $23,487.15. So Sally has already earned more than double of what James has earned and they are not even at retiring age yet.
In another 10 years Sally will have nearly $100,000 in her bank account while James will have nearly $60,000 giving Sally a cool extra $40,000 to live her golden years with. The longer we give compounding investments a chance, the more they return us in dividends.
Yes, They Can
By Greg Kitsock
Ten years ago I asked one of the movers and shakers of the craft beer business if he planned to can his beers. "Cans are for baked beans, not fine beverages," he scoffed. At issue was not so much the integrity of the container as its image.
Beer cans have been around since 1935 and today cradle almost half the beer consumed in this country. But the can has been largely unable to shed its blue-collar aura, conjuring images of John Belushi in "Animal House" crushing the empties against his forehead.
Not until a few years ago did a Canadian firm, Cask Brewing Systems Inc., market a canning machine that was small enough and inexpensive enough to interest microbrewers. In 2002 a Lyons, Colo., brew pub named Oskar Blues became the first U.S. operation to buy Cask's machine.
"The original intent was to promote the brew pub" by selling the canned beer locally as a marketing tool, says company spokesman Marty Jones. But sales of Dale's Pale Ale in bright red, blue and silver 12-ounce cans took off.
In 2002, Oskar Blues sold 700 barrels of beer; in 2007 it expects to sell 14,000 barrels, about 80 percent of that outside the pub. Its cans are sold in 15 states, including Maryland and Virginia, and the District.
Oskar Blues was not the first small brewery to try cans, Jones says. Earlier, a few craft brewers had started renting bigger breweries' facilities to can their own beer, "but these were typically more mainstream styles," he says. (Brooklyn Brewery, for example, offers its Brooklyn Lager in cans, but not its East India Pale Ale or Black Chocolate Stout.)
There is nothing mainstream about Dale's Pale Ale. Punch in the top and the familiar "psssssscht!" is followed by the citrus-and-pine-needle aroma of Pacific Northwest hops.
Brewers measure the bitterness of beer using a system of international bitterness units, or IBUs. Budweiser measures about 12 IBUs; Sierra Nevada Pale Ale registers 37; Dale's Pale Ale clocks in at 65.
For its second canned offering, Oskar Blues went in the opposite direction, packaging a malty Scotch ale called Old Chub, full of roasty and bittersweet chocolate flavors.
A third canned product, Gordon, is a potent imperial India pale ale better suited for nightcaps than for post-softball celebrations. Cask Brewing Systems has about 25 other clients in this country, but most are tiny brew pubs and microbreweries that don't sell outside their immediate region.
So European breweries have stepped in to fill the demand for better beer in cans. In 1992 Guinness introduced its "widget" can in America. When the can is opened, compressed nitrogen roils the beer to simulate the creamy head of a draft stout.
You can buy three fine English pale ales in tall cans: the caramely Abbott Ale (16.9 ounces), the creamy Old Speckled Hen 14.9 ounces, with widget) and the hoppier Ruddles County English Pub Ale (16.9 ounces), all from Greene King in Suffolk, England.
The Czech classic Pilsner Urquell comes in similar containers, as does the Netherlands' Oranjeboom, a slightly heftier alternative to Heineken. Wittekerke, a coriander- and orange peel-spiced ale from Belgium's Bavik Brewery, has sporadically appeared here in six-packs of azure-colored 11.2-ounce cans.
Why choose cans when there are so many fine bottled selections? Marty Jones can tick off the advantages. They're lighter and more compact than glass, and they chill faster.
They're welcome at marinas, beaches, golf courses, public parks and other places where bottles are verboten because of the danger of broken glass.
They're easily recyclable. And the can is opaque, preventing the beer from becoming light-struck and skunky. The biggest obstacle to selling craft beer in cans, Jones says, is the perception that the beer will taste metallic.
Oskar Blues owner Dale Katechis says that's a myth. "The modern-day aluminum can and its lid are lined with a water-based coating that prevents beer and metal from ever touching," his Web site says.
One skeptic is Jim Koch, president of the Boston Beer Co., which cans its Twisted Tea (an alcoholic iced tea) but not its Samuel Adams beers. Koch claims that tiny perforations in a can's ultra-thin lining can allow the beer to come in contact with the metal, compromising the flavor over time.
As a result, he has denied pranksters the opportunity to phone their local liquor mart and ask, "Do you have Sam Adams in a can?"
You supply the punch line.
Ten years ago I asked one of the movers and shakers of the craft beer business if he planned to can his beers. "Cans are for baked beans, not fine beverages," he scoffed. At issue was not so much the integrity of the container as its image.
Beer cans have been around since 1935 and today cradle almost half the beer consumed in this country. But the can has been largely unable to shed its blue-collar aura, conjuring images of John Belushi in "Animal House" crushing the empties against his forehead.
Not until a few years ago did a Canadian firm, Cask Brewing Systems Inc., market a canning machine that was small enough and inexpensive enough to interest microbrewers. In 2002 a Lyons, Colo., brew pub named Oskar Blues became the first U.S. operation to buy Cask's machine.
"The original intent was to promote the brew pub" by selling the canned beer locally as a marketing tool, says company spokesman Marty Jones. But sales of Dale's Pale Ale in bright red, blue and silver 12-ounce cans took off.
In 2002, Oskar Blues sold 700 barrels of beer; in 2007 it expects to sell 14,000 barrels, about 80 percent of that outside the pub. Its cans are sold in 15 states, including Maryland and Virginia, and the District.
Oskar Blues was not the first small brewery to try cans, Jones says. Earlier, a few craft brewers had started renting bigger breweries' facilities to can their own beer, "but these were typically more mainstream styles," he says. (Brooklyn Brewery, for example, offers its Brooklyn Lager in cans, but not its East India Pale Ale or Black Chocolate Stout.)
There is nothing mainstream about Dale's Pale Ale. Punch in the top and the familiar "psssssscht!" is followed by the citrus-and-pine-needle aroma of Pacific Northwest hops.
Brewers measure the bitterness of beer using a system of international bitterness units, or IBUs. Budweiser measures about 12 IBUs; Sierra Nevada Pale Ale registers 37; Dale's Pale Ale clocks in at 65.
For its second canned offering, Oskar Blues went in the opposite direction, packaging a malty Scotch ale called Old Chub, full of roasty and bittersweet chocolate flavors.
A third canned product, Gordon, is a potent imperial India pale ale better suited for nightcaps than for post-softball celebrations. Cask Brewing Systems has about 25 other clients in this country, but most are tiny brew pubs and microbreweries that don't sell outside their immediate region.
So European breweries have stepped in to fill the demand for better beer in cans. In 1992 Guinness introduced its "widget" can in America. When the can is opened, compressed nitrogen roils the beer to simulate the creamy head of a draft stout.
You can buy three fine English pale ales in tall cans: the caramely Abbott Ale (16.9 ounces), the creamy Old Speckled Hen 14.9 ounces, with widget) and the hoppier Ruddles County English Pub Ale (16.9 ounces), all from Greene King in Suffolk, England.
The Czech classic Pilsner Urquell comes in similar containers, as does the Netherlands' Oranjeboom, a slightly heftier alternative to Heineken. Wittekerke, a coriander- and orange peel-spiced ale from Belgium's Bavik Brewery, has sporadically appeared here in six-packs of azure-colored 11.2-ounce cans.
Why choose cans when there are so many fine bottled selections? Marty Jones can tick off the advantages. They're lighter and more compact than glass, and they chill faster.
They're welcome at marinas, beaches, golf courses, public parks and other places where bottles are verboten because of the danger of broken glass.
They're easily recyclable. And the can is opaque, preventing the beer from becoming light-struck and skunky. The biggest obstacle to selling craft beer in cans, Jones says, is the perception that the beer will taste metallic.
Oskar Blues owner Dale Katechis says that's a myth. "The modern-day aluminum can and its lid are lined with a water-based coating that prevents beer and metal from ever touching," his Web site says.
One skeptic is Jim Koch, president of the Boston Beer Co., which cans its Twisted Tea (an alcoholic iced tea) but not its Samuel Adams beers. Koch claims that tiny perforations in a can's ultra-thin lining can allow the beer to come in contact with the metal, compromising the flavor over time.
As a result, he has denied pranksters the opportunity to phone their local liquor mart and ask, "Do you have Sam Adams in a can?"
You supply the punch line.
Monday, May 28, 2007
Billionaire Shares His Secret: 5 Dimensions to Success
From NewsMax
Charles G. Koch may very well be the most successful businessman you’ve never heard of.
He is also one of the richest men in the world — Forbes ranks billionaire Koch as the 49th richest man on the planet.
Rarely has such a successful businessman shared his secret formula for success.
But Koch has done just that in his newly released book, “The Science of Success: How Market-Based Management Built the World’s Largest Private Company” (Wiley).
Unlike many success and self-help books that are written by experts that have never had tremendous business success, Koch has built his family’s business, Koch Industries, Inc. (KII) into what Forbes says is the “world’s largest private company.”
KII is a leading maker of natural resource-based products, including gasoline, chemicals, polymers, fibers, building products, packaging, tissue, and process equipment.
You know Koch by some of its well-known brand named products, including Dixie cups, Quilted Northern tissue, Stainmaster carpets and Lycra spandex.
When Koch joined his family company in 1960, it had revenues of $70 million. Today, Koch has revenues of about $90 billion, employing some 80,000 people in 60 countries across the globe.
KII’s growth has been enormous. Consider if one had invested just $1,000 in the S&P 500 in 1960 it would be worth about $125,000 today. The same $1,000 invested in Koch Industries would have a book value of more than $2 million today!
KII is a true rarity: As a large company it has not only survived, it has grown tremendously. It continues to grow rapidly!
Charles Koch has revealed the principles of success he has discovered during almost five decades of business. You can tap into his lessons for your own business and personal success. Check out Koch’s “Science of Success” on Amazon — Go Here Now.
How has KII had such enormous growth?
The answer, according to Charles Koch, is simple. It’s called MBM® or Market-Based Management. Koch defines MBM as “a philosophy that enables organizations to succeed long term by applying the principles that allow free societies to prosper.”
He says there are five dimensions to understanding the success of free societies, five dimensions that can applied for business success. In his book Koch reveals the five dimensions and discusses how to apply them for business success.
Koch developed MBM from his desire to build a great company and his studies of the principles that lead to prosperity and society’s progress. “After studying history, economics, philosophy, science, psychology, and other disciplines, I concluded that the two passions were strongly, indeed intimately, related,” Koch writes.
Koch believes all business people can tap into MBM for success, but they must understand it “is a never-ending process of learning and improvement. Like the North Star, it is not a goal in itself but a guide in this instance toward greater and greater value creation.”
There’s plenty of practical advice in the book that helps you turn theory into real business success.
Here’s just some of the nuggets:
It’s OK to make mistakes and why Koch’s father gave the surprising advice: “I hope your first deal is a loser . . .” It helped make his fortune.
Progress and success require failure. Failure can be good — if you learn from it. Don’t try to eliminate failure.
Why virtues and values — like honesty — are indispensable in building a successful, prosperous, and sustainable business.
Embrace change: The marketplace is constantly replacing old ways with effective alternatives in a process called “creative destruction” — drive this process!
How self-interest works for the better good.
Grasping the importance of “subjective value” and the fact that all economic value comes from people valuing the good, not its cost. This value is revealed by people’s actions, not what they say.
Harnessing the “multiple intelligences” people have and using human capital to achieve your goals.
Discovering that a market economy is based on “useful knowledge” — and why knowledge must be plentiful, accessible, and relevant in your business life.
Why cost cutting is not always the best way to improve your bottom line and can be “shortsighted and can seriously damage future profitability.”
Thinking outside the box: Koch explains how Southwest Airlines succeeded because it ignored competitors and looked to NASCAR in figuring how to move baggage and passengers.
Jointly solve the jigsaw puzzle: The rate of discovery is highest when everyone works together in sight of each other so that every time a piece fits the others are alerted to opportunities for the next step.
Apply this process to your company to unlock the discovery process and profits. There is much, much more in Koch’s “Science of Success” — find out more about this book — Go Here Now.
The Science of Human Action
Koch argues that MBM is rooted in the Science of Human Action and is defined by five dimensions.
Understand and apply these dimensions and your business will soar.
The five dimensions:
1. Vision — Determining where and how the organization can create the greatest long-term value.
2. Virtue and Talents — Helping ensure that people with the right values, skills and capabilities are hired, retained, and developed.
3. Knowledge Processes — Creating, acquiring, sharing, and applying relevant knowledge, and tracking profitability.
4. Decision Rights — Ensuring the right people are in the right roles with the right authority to make decisions and holding them accountable.
5. Incentives — Rewarding people according to the value they create for the organization.
When these dimensions are applied in an integrated, mutually reinforcing manner, they create continuous transformation and positive growth.
Any organization — corporation, small business, nonprofit, government agency — and the people who manage them can apply these proven principles.
MBM will benefit you, your company, your customers and your employees!
Find out more about MBM and Charles Koch’s “Science of Success” — Go Here Now.
About Charles G. Koch
Charles Koch is chairman of the board and CEO of Koch Industries, Inc., a position he has held since 1967.
Since then, the company has been transformed into a dynamic and diverse group of companies in refining and chemicals, process and pollution controls technology, fibers and polymers, minerals including fertilizers and exploration and production, commodity and financial trading, and forest and consumer products.
Koch has continuously supported academic and public policy research (including numerous Nobel Prize winners) for more than 40 years and has helped build a number of market-based organizations.
Koch received a bachelor’s degree in general engineering and two master’s degrees — in nuclear and chemical engineering — from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Get your copy of Charles Koch's new book — Go Here Now.
Charles G. Koch may very well be the most successful businessman you’ve never heard of.
He is also one of the richest men in the world — Forbes ranks billionaire Koch as the 49th richest man on the planet.
Rarely has such a successful businessman shared his secret formula for success.
But Koch has done just that in his newly released book, “The Science of Success: How Market-Based Management Built the World’s Largest Private Company” (Wiley).
Unlike many success and self-help books that are written by experts that have never had tremendous business success, Koch has built his family’s business, Koch Industries, Inc. (KII) into what Forbes says is the “world’s largest private company.”
KII is a leading maker of natural resource-based products, including gasoline, chemicals, polymers, fibers, building products, packaging, tissue, and process equipment.
You know Koch by some of its well-known brand named products, including Dixie cups, Quilted Northern tissue, Stainmaster carpets and Lycra spandex.
When Koch joined his family company in 1960, it had revenues of $70 million. Today, Koch has revenues of about $90 billion, employing some 80,000 people in 60 countries across the globe.
KII’s growth has been enormous. Consider if one had invested just $1,000 in the S&P 500 in 1960 it would be worth about $125,000 today. The same $1,000 invested in Koch Industries would have a book value of more than $2 million today!
KII is a true rarity: As a large company it has not only survived, it has grown tremendously. It continues to grow rapidly!
Charles Koch has revealed the principles of success he has discovered during almost five decades of business. You can tap into his lessons for your own business and personal success. Check out Koch’s “Science of Success” on Amazon — Go Here Now.
How has KII had such enormous growth?
The answer, according to Charles Koch, is simple. It’s called MBM® or Market-Based Management. Koch defines MBM as “a philosophy that enables organizations to succeed long term by applying the principles that allow free societies to prosper.”
He says there are five dimensions to understanding the success of free societies, five dimensions that can applied for business success. In his book Koch reveals the five dimensions and discusses how to apply them for business success.
Koch developed MBM from his desire to build a great company and his studies of the principles that lead to prosperity and society’s progress. “After studying history, economics, philosophy, science, psychology, and other disciplines, I concluded that the two passions were strongly, indeed intimately, related,” Koch writes.
Koch believes all business people can tap into MBM for success, but they must understand it “is a never-ending process of learning and improvement. Like the North Star, it is not a goal in itself but a guide in this instance toward greater and greater value creation.”
There’s plenty of practical advice in the book that helps you turn theory into real business success.
Here’s just some of the nuggets:
It’s OK to make mistakes and why Koch’s father gave the surprising advice: “I hope your first deal is a loser . . .” It helped make his fortune.
Progress and success require failure. Failure can be good — if you learn from it. Don’t try to eliminate failure.
Why virtues and values — like honesty — are indispensable in building a successful, prosperous, and sustainable business.
Embrace change: The marketplace is constantly replacing old ways with effective alternatives in a process called “creative destruction” — drive this process!
How self-interest works for the better good.
Grasping the importance of “subjective value” and the fact that all economic value comes from people valuing the good, not its cost. This value is revealed by people’s actions, not what they say.
Harnessing the “multiple intelligences” people have and using human capital to achieve your goals.
Discovering that a market economy is based on “useful knowledge” — and why knowledge must be plentiful, accessible, and relevant in your business life.
Why cost cutting is not always the best way to improve your bottom line and can be “shortsighted and can seriously damage future profitability.”
Thinking outside the box: Koch explains how Southwest Airlines succeeded because it ignored competitors and looked to NASCAR in figuring how to move baggage and passengers.
Jointly solve the jigsaw puzzle: The rate of discovery is highest when everyone works together in sight of each other so that every time a piece fits the others are alerted to opportunities for the next step.
Apply this process to your company to unlock the discovery process and profits. There is much, much more in Koch’s “Science of Success” — find out more about this book — Go Here Now.
The Science of Human Action
Koch argues that MBM is rooted in the Science of Human Action and is defined by five dimensions.
Understand and apply these dimensions and your business will soar.
The five dimensions:
1. Vision — Determining where and how the organization can create the greatest long-term value.
2. Virtue and Talents — Helping ensure that people with the right values, skills and capabilities are hired, retained, and developed.
3. Knowledge Processes — Creating, acquiring, sharing, and applying relevant knowledge, and tracking profitability.
4. Decision Rights — Ensuring the right people are in the right roles with the right authority to make decisions and holding them accountable.
5. Incentives — Rewarding people according to the value they create for the organization.
When these dimensions are applied in an integrated, mutually reinforcing manner, they create continuous transformation and positive growth.
Any organization — corporation, small business, nonprofit, government agency — and the people who manage them can apply these proven principles.
MBM will benefit you, your company, your customers and your employees!
Find out more about MBM and Charles Koch’s “Science of Success” — Go Here Now.
About Charles G. Koch
Charles Koch is chairman of the board and CEO of Koch Industries, Inc., a position he has held since 1967.
Since then, the company has been transformed into a dynamic and diverse group of companies in refining and chemicals, process and pollution controls technology, fibers and polymers, minerals including fertilizers and exploration and production, commodity and financial trading, and forest and consumer products.
Koch has continuously supported academic and public policy research (including numerous Nobel Prize winners) for more than 40 years and has helped build a number of market-based organizations.
Koch received a bachelor’s degree in general engineering and two master’s degrees — in nuclear and chemical engineering — from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Get your copy of Charles Koch's new book — Go Here Now.
Do Your Profits Pay for all Your Overhead?
By Adam Heist
Business people can fool themselves often about what their profits really are. Profits are not only cash available that you can spend as salary and reinvest in a business. Profits also have to pay all taxes, fees, and service all loans outstanding.
“Goodwill” earnings through the development of a brand, internet site or distribution network can warrant years of investment in companies that on the books have losses year after year.
Then the owners sell the company for some huge billion dollar figure and make a big, in the pocket, profit. When looking at a company’s profit and loss statements, we first look at its top line growth. Is it making more gross sales?
Is the profit margin increasing or decreasing? Is a decreasing profit margin compensated by a larger volume of sales?Next one must look at the net profit margin. This also has to be measured against the interest expense and other charges from borrowing capital.
To continue with this analysis, you need to tell the difference between your costs- that is your necessary costs of production; and your expenses- whether you need to rent extra plant space, higher more sales people, and is this a smart move.
When determining your profit, after looking at your gross sales, you have to look at the cost of goods sold. This defines your net profit potential. The idea is to monitor gross margins. If the margin is tightening the market is getting more competitive, or the company is becoming more unproductive.
Overhead is another thing that business people have to worry about – Overhead is all the indirect expenses that businesses incur to be able to sell our product or service. Anything that is an expense that you incur that is not directly related to the product or service is overhead.
For example, a company might have rent expense, or the expenses related to telephones, and lighting, and management salaries. All of these are indirect, and would therefore be termed overhead.
You will also see this broken down sales and general administrative expenses. This type of analysis shows how one company can be doing better than another company, despite similar sales revenues, and the same earnings before interest payment and taxes.
However, even though increased overhead can and does reduce profitability, it may be necessary overhead. What if one company can garner more sales by sending out more mailings or doing more advertisement? This is overhead, but it also succeeds in getting more results.
Adam Heist is a freelance writer with many years of experience writing articles on britannia related subjects. Take a few moments now to visit our site and see what we have in store for you. http://enewhomeowner.co.uk/
Business people can fool themselves often about what their profits really are. Profits are not only cash available that you can spend as salary and reinvest in a business. Profits also have to pay all taxes, fees, and service all loans outstanding.
“Goodwill” earnings through the development of a brand, internet site or distribution network can warrant years of investment in companies that on the books have losses year after year.
Then the owners sell the company for some huge billion dollar figure and make a big, in the pocket, profit. When looking at a company’s profit and loss statements, we first look at its top line growth. Is it making more gross sales?
Is the profit margin increasing or decreasing? Is a decreasing profit margin compensated by a larger volume of sales?Next one must look at the net profit margin. This also has to be measured against the interest expense and other charges from borrowing capital.
To continue with this analysis, you need to tell the difference between your costs- that is your necessary costs of production; and your expenses- whether you need to rent extra plant space, higher more sales people, and is this a smart move.
When determining your profit, after looking at your gross sales, you have to look at the cost of goods sold. This defines your net profit potential. The idea is to monitor gross margins. If the margin is tightening the market is getting more competitive, or the company is becoming more unproductive.
Overhead is another thing that business people have to worry about – Overhead is all the indirect expenses that businesses incur to be able to sell our product or service. Anything that is an expense that you incur that is not directly related to the product or service is overhead.
For example, a company might have rent expense, or the expenses related to telephones, and lighting, and management salaries. All of these are indirect, and would therefore be termed overhead.
You will also see this broken down sales and general administrative expenses. This type of analysis shows how one company can be doing better than another company, despite similar sales revenues, and the same earnings before interest payment and taxes.
However, even though increased overhead can and does reduce profitability, it may be necessary overhead. What if one company can garner more sales by sending out more mailings or doing more advertisement? This is overhead, but it also succeeds in getting more results.
Adam Heist is a freelance writer with many years of experience writing articles on britannia related subjects. Take a few moments now to visit our site and see what we have in store for you. http://enewhomeowner.co.uk/
Get the service your bottle deserves
By Patrick Comiskey
YOU'VE ordered the 2003 Yangarra Estate Vineyard Old Vine Grenache, and the server brings you the 2004 — but you don't notice until he's already left the table. He's poured so much in each glass that you can't swirl it around — but ack! It's way too warm.
Is there any way to prevent such a wine nightmare?In the last few years, Los Angeles has truly become a city of wine lovers, and restaurants have risen to the occasion with seriously interesting lists. But wine service hasn't necessarily kept pace.
There are some strategies you can use to head off bad wine service — and have a much better dining experience as a result. But first you have to know what good wine service looks like.
Continue reading "Get the service your bottle deserves"
YOU'VE ordered the 2003 Yangarra Estate Vineyard Old Vine Grenache, and the server brings you the 2004 — but you don't notice until he's already left the table. He's poured so much in each glass that you can't swirl it around — but ack! It's way too warm.
Is there any way to prevent such a wine nightmare?In the last few years, Los Angeles has truly become a city of wine lovers, and restaurants have risen to the occasion with seriously interesting lists. But wine service hasn't necessarily kept pace.
There are some strategies you can use to head off bad wine service — and have a much better dining experience as a result. But first you have to know what good wine service looks like.
Continue reading "Get the service your bottle deserves"
Sunday, May 27, 2007
One Road to Lower Gas Prices
By Robert Aronen
Do you remember the Monty Python satire of the Inquisition? The would-be convert is harangued by the inquisitors until they resort to extreme measures. They say, "So you think you are strong ... We shall see ... Put her in the comfy chair."
Many Americans believe that the comfy chair will be the total sacrifice needed to reduce gas prices. Politicians feed this belief through promising the comfy chair of ethanol. Looking at the data, however, I see only one road to lower prices at the pump: Conservation.
What is driving prices?
Gasoline prices are set by supply and demand. The majority of the price depends on crude markets.
Beyond crude, the crack spread (the price difference between refined product and crude oil) is determined by the balance of refining capacity and refined product demand. State and federal taxes comprise the final addition to the price.
Looking at crude oil, I wondered what happened to the oil boom back in January, when crude prices fell to $50 a barrel. At that time, I painted a picture of tight supply and demand, with all of global spare capacity being held by Saudi Arabia.
The picture for crude oil remains essentially the same. The persistent high price of crude has driven big gains for oil service companies like Transocean (NYSE: RIG) -- my personal fat pitch.
The main difference is refined product supply. Refinery shutdowns and reduced product imports have driven gasoline stocks far below their historical averages. This graph from the EIA (Energy Information Association) basically tells the story.
Refining companies like Tesoro (NYSE: TSO) and Valero (NYSE: VLO) are enjoying record crack spreads. These high crack spreads will not persist, however, because the factors that have created this spike are temporary.
No new refineries
This recent price spike is just another example of how thinly stretched our energy infrastructure has become. With no excess capacity in either the crude or refined product supply, even small events have an impact on price.
A combination of events, such as the current situation with multiple refinery outages, causes a major price increase.
I have said there would be no new refineries several times. Arizona Clean Fuels Yuma is trying to build the first new refinery in the U.S. in more than 30 years.
It hopes to start construction in 2008, and if -- a very big if -- it encounters no additional delays, the refinery would be operational by 2011. The cost is estimated at $3.7 billion for 150,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude capacity, plus a pipeline and crude terminal.
This works out to nearly $25,000 per bpd of refining capacity. It is cheaper and faster for oil companies to expand existing locations. Through expansions, domestic refinery capacity increased by 1.1 million bpd between 1999 and 2006, and will expand substantially in the next few years.
In one example, Marathon Oil (NYSE: MRO) is spending $3.2 billion to expand the Garyville, La. refinery by 180,000 bpd. At $18,000 per bpd of capacity and scheduled completion in December 2009, the Garyville expansion is about 30% less expensive and should be completed well before the Arizona project is operational.
Insatiable
In addition to crude imports, the U.S. also imports 3.6 million bpd of refined products. Therefore, we are only starting to play catch-up on the supply side, and prices certainly will not fall in the face of rising demand.
Gasoline demand is up 1% over 2006. Taking a slightly longer view, even though gasoline prices nearly tripled from 1999 through 2005, U.S. gasoline demand grew at 1.4% annually --essentially the same as during the previous 10 years. Furthermore, new vehicle sales figures suggest that demand growth will continue.
Back to the future
The road to lower prices might be visible if we look at the last peak in oil prices from 1980, when OPEC was withholding production. In the face of high prices, U.S. gasoline demand fell by 12%, and the U.S. economy was in recession.
Efficiency standards were implemented for cars, speed limits were reduced, and power production shifted from fuel oil to natural gas. Meanwhile, new oil fields in Alaska, the North Sea, and the Soviet Union increased supply from non-OPEC regions.
Conservation combined with new production loosened OPEC's grip on world markets. In 1986, Saudi Arabia flooded world markets with cheap oil to drive higher-cost producers out of business. Prices plummeted to less than $10 a barrel. The oil boom was over.
One way out
Today, demand is the only side of the equation we control. Americans consume 20.8 million bpd of crude, compared to domestic production of 5.2 million bpd. U.S. production has been declining for 37 years.
Even if every inch of the Rockies, the Pacific Coast, and Alaska were open to drilling, we could not produce our way to lower prices. Globally, increasing production in new regions barely compensates for falling production in Mexico, the North Sea, and several OPEC countries. Geopolitical problems further complicate the situation.
Conservation stands as the lone card in our hand. The EIA basically said the same thing in last week's report: "If prices are high due to supply and demand factors, and consumers cannot directly increase supply, reducing demand is left as the main option for consumers."
Few people can reduce demand in the short term. Public transportation, telecommuting, and carpooling are possible for a minority of the workforce -- and the lucky few are probably already taking advantage of these options.
The people who could reduce demand, new car buyers, have not demonstrated a significant shift away from trucks and SUVs. Perhaps $3.20 a gallon is still affordable after all.
Foolish conclusion
Before change occurs, Americans will likely need to suffer some pain. The comfy chair of ethanol will not reduce prices; volumes are too small.
So, we are faced with a choice: change now, or wait for the thumbscrews of $4.00 a gallon or possibly endure the rack of a global recession. Sadly, I think we are in for the thumbscrews.
As an investor, all of this points toward continuation of the oil boom.
Companies like Motley Fool Hidden Gems selections Dawson Geophysical (Nasdaq: DWSN) and OYO Geospace (Nasdaq: OYOG) will deliver increasing profits as long as oil remains above $40 a barrel.
Both companies have posted big gains in recent months, but they are also quite volatile, providing opportunities to pick up shares during the occasional swoon. For the more conservative investor, large integrated oil companies like ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) continue to trade at reasonable valuations.
Finally, if you are in the market for a new car, you might want to run the numbers using $4.00 gasoline to make sure you don't break your budget.
Fool contributor Robert Aronen owns shares of Transocean and Dawson Geophysical. Please feel free to share your comments with him. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Do you remember the Monty Python satire of the Inquisition? The would-be convert is harangued by the inquisitors until they resort to extreme measures. They say, "So you think you are strong ... We shall see ... Put her in the comfy chair."
Many Americans believe that the comfy chair will be the total sacrifice needed to reduce gas prices. Politicians feed this belief through promising the comfy chair of ethanol. Looking at the data, however, I see only one road to lower prices at the pump: Conservation.
What is driving prices?
Gasoline prices are set by supply and demand. The majority of the price depends on crude markets.
Beyond crude, the crack spread (the price difference between refined product and crude oil) is determined by the balance of refining capacity and refined product demand. State and federal taxes comprise the final addition to the price.
Looking at crude oil, I wondered what happened to the oil boom back in January, when crude prices fell to $50 a barrel. At that time, I painted a picture of tight supply and demand, with all of global spare capacity being held by Saudi Arabia.
The picture for crude oil remains essentially the same. The persistent high price of crude has driven big gains for oil service companies like Transocean (NYSE: RIG) -- my personal fat pitch.
The main difference is refined product supply. Refinery shutdowns and reduced product imports have driven gasoline stocks far below their historical averages. This graph from the EIA (Energy Information Association) basically tells the story.
Refining companies like Tesoro (NYSE: TSO) and Valero (NYSE: VLO) are enjoying record crack spreads. These high crack spreads will not persist, however, because the factors that have created this spike are temporary.
No new refineries
This recent price spike is just another example of how thinly stretched our energy infrastructure has become. With no excess capacity in either the crude or refined product supply, even small events have an impact on price.
A combination of events, such as the current situation with multiple refinery outages, causes a major price increase.
I have said there would be no new refineries several times. Arizona Clean Fuels Yuma is trying to build the first new refinery in the U.S. in more than 30 years.
It hopes to start construction in 2008, and if -- a very big if -- it encounters no additional delays, the refinery would be operational by 2011. The cost is estimated at $3.7 billion for 150,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude capacity, plus a pipeline and crude terminal.
This works out to nearly $25,000 per bpd of refining capacity. It is cheaper and faster for oil companies to expand existing locations. Through expansions, domestic refinery capacity increased by 1.1 million bpd between 1999 and 2006, and will expand substantially in the next few years.
In one example, Marathon Oil (NYSE: MRO) is spending $3.2 billion to expand the Garyville, La. refinery by 180,000 bpd. At $18,000 per bpd of capacity and scheduled completion in December 2009, the Garyville expansion is about 30% less expensive and should be completed well before the Arizona project is operational.
Insatiable
In addition to crude imports, the U.S. also imports 3.6 million bpd of refined products. Therefore, we are only starting to play catch-up on the supply side, and prices certainly will not fall in the face of rising demand.
Gasoline demand is up 1% over 2006. Taking a slightly longer view, even though gasoline prices nearly tripled from 1999 through 2005, U.S. gasoline demand grew at 1.4% annually --essentially the same as during the previous 10 years. Furthermore, new vehicle sales figures suggest that demand growth will continue.
Back to the future
The road to lower prices might be visible if we look at the last peak in oil prices from 1980, when OPEC was withholding production. In the face of high prices, U.S. gasoline demand fell by 12%, and the U.S. economy was in recession.
Efficiency standards were implemented for cars, speed limits were reduced, and power production shifted from fuel oil to natural gas. Meanwhile, new oil fields in Alaska, the North Sea, and the Soviet Union increased supply from non-OPEC regions.
Conservation combined with new production loosened OPEC's grip on world markets. In 1986, Saudi Arabia flooded world markets with cheap oil to drive higher-cost producers out of business. Prices plummeted to less than $10 a barrel. The oil boom was over.
One way out
Today, demand is the only side of the equation we control. Americans consume 20.8 million bpd of crude, compared to domestic production of 5.2 million bpd. U.S. production has been declining for 37 years.
Even if every inch of the Rockies, the Pacific Coast, and Alaska were open to drilling, we could not produce our way to lower prices. Globally, increasing production in new regions barely compensates for falling production in Mexico, the North Sea, and several OPEC countries. Geopolitical problems further complicate the situation.
Conservation stands as the lone card in our hand. The EIA basically said the same thing in last week's report: "If prices are high due to supply and demand factors, and consumers cannot directly increase supply, reducing demand is left as the main option for consumers."
Few people can reduce demand in the short term. Public transportation, telecommuting, and carpooling are possible for a minority of the workforce -- and the lucky few are probably already taking advantage of these options.
The people who could reduce demand, new car buyers, have not demonstrated a significant shift away from trucks and SUVs. Perhaps $3.20 a gallon is still affordable after all.
Foolish conclusion
Before change occurs, Americans will likely need to suffer some pain. The comfy chair of ethanol will not reduce prices; volumes are too small.
So, we are faced with a choice: change now, or wait for the thumbscrews of $4.00 a gallon or possibly endure the rack of a global recession. Sadly, I think we are in for the thumbscrews.
As an investor, all of this points toward continuation of the oil boom.
Companies like Motley Fool Hidden Gems selections Dawson Geophysical (Nasdaq: DWSN) and OYO Geospace (Nasdaq: OYOG) will deliver increasing profits as long as oil remains above $40 a barrel.
Both companies have posted big gains in recent months, but they are also quite volatile, providing opportunities to pick up shares during the occasional swoon. For the more conservative investor, large integrated oil companies like ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) continue to trade at reasonable valuations.
Finally, if you are in the market for a new car, you might want to run the numbers using $4.00 gasoline to make sure you don't break your budget.
Fool contributor Robert Aronen owns shares of Transocean and Dawson Geophysical. Please feel free to share your comments with him. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Debt Consolidation and Your Home Equity
By: Adam Heist
In today’s fast pace economy, it’s easy to outspend your means and run into a large amount of debt on credit cards. When this becomes a habit, it’s hard to get out of. The goal is to become debt free, improve your credit rating by eliminating bad credit and stop collection agencies.
You may need information and counseling to help you decide if you need debt consolidation, to get creditors and collection agencies off your back. The goal is to put together all of your creditor payments into one monthly, and at the same time reduce monthly payments and interest charges.
To solve these problems it is necessary to improve your personal money management.Personal debt consolidation aims to consolidate the debtor’s bills in one or a few payments at lower interest rates and for longer repayment time.
By taking a consolidation loan you are able to pay other loans off immediately, and can settle at discounted payment amounts.The easiest way to get a debt consolidation loan is if you own your own home or apartment and then can get a home equity loan.
This has been a common solution over the last five years with home equity values skyrocketing, even though in 2006 this trend has stopped. You can borrow an amount equal to 80 percent of the value of your home.
A debt management plan sets up a new payment schedule to pay your debts. A credit and debt counseling group can help you reduce or wave finance charges and late charges. Try first to call all your debtors yourself to see if you can get reductions at least of penalties.
If you get a debt consolidation loan, you can offer a lump sum of money to pay a loan and asked to be forgiven all or part of the rest of the loan. The bottom line is that most creditors would like to get some of their loans repaid, rather than get no repayment.
The other job you or your counseling service has to do is to reestablish your credit. If your creditors are receiving money on a regular basis they will stop harassing phone calls and sending letters.
It can be helpful to have a debt counseling group to handle any calls that you get after you sign up with a program. You can check monthly statements to make sure the debt counseling group is paying your debts as specified.
Adam Heist has been writing on the internet for many years now. Adam currently works day and night on his website http://enewhomeowner.co.uk/. For more information on this topic please visit his website today.
In today’s fast pace economy, it’s easy to outspend your means and run into a large amount of debt on credit cards. When this becomes a habit, it’s hard to get out of. The goal is to become debt free, improve your credit rating by eliminating bad credit and stop collection agencies.
You may need information and counseling to help you decide if you need debt consolidation, to get creditors and collection agencies off your back. The goal is to put together all of your creditor payments into one monthly, and at the same time reduce monthly payments and interest charges.
To solve these problems it is necessary to improve your personal money management.Personal debt consolidation aims to consolidate the debtor’s bills in one or a few payments at lower interest rates and for longer repayment time.
By taking a consolidation loan you are able to pay other loans off immediately, and can settle at discounted payment amounts.The easiest way to get a debt consolidation loan is if you own your own home or apartment and then can get a home equity loan.
This has been a common solution over the last five years with home equity values skyrocketing, even though in 2006 this trend has stopped. You can borrow an amount equal to 80 percent of the value of your home.
A debt management plan sets up a new payment schedule to pay your debts. A credit and debt counseling group can help you reduce or wave finance charges and late charges. Try first to call all your debtors yourself to see if you can get reductions at least of penalties.
If you get a debt consolidation loan, you can offer a lump sum of money to pay a loan and asked to be forgiven all or part of the rest of the loan. The bottom line is that most creditors would like to get some of their loans repaid, rather than get no repayment.
The other job you or your counseling service has to do is to reestablish your credit. If your creditors are receiving money on a regular basis they will stop harassing phone calls and sending letters.
It can be helpful to have a debt counseling group to handle any calls that you get after you sign up with a program. You can check monthly statements to make sure the debt counseling group is paying your debts as specified.
Adam Heist has been writing on the internet for many years now. Adam currently works day and night on his website http://enewhomeowner.co.uk/. For more information on this topic please visit his website today.
THE SIPPING NEWS
By Camper English, Jon Bonné, Olivia Wu, Tara Duggan, W. Blake Gray
BAR PATROL / Get schooled
You, too, can mix like the pros. Cocktail conclave Bourbon & Branch recently e-mailed customers about its new Beverage Academy, which will begin in a few weeks. Up to 15 people at a time can attend a series of Monday cocktail classes.
The drink menu has also been updated with even more elderflower cocktails (one with gin, one with bourbon), a new cucumber drink, a Black Manhattan made with Italian liqueur, house apple clove bitters, and a martini with house-smoked olives. Two bourbon flights will be offered during May.
Even better, the bar will now be open Mondays for your post-work pleasure. And you can monitor other drinking developments via its new blog: blog.bourbonandbranch.com.
-- Camper English
--------------------
In our glasses
What we're drinking
The Macallan Cask Strength Single Malt Highland Scotch Whisky ($55)
What sold us: This 117-proof Scotch is a potent, rich, decadent whisky with flavors of caramel, Sherry, toasted almond and currants and a particularly long finish. "Cask strength" means it comes straight out of the used Sherry barrels in which it was aged, rather than having water added to bring down its alcohol percentage, as is done with most whiskies.
Add your own drops of water, as wee as you like, and notice how the mouthfeel softens.
Where to find: Internet Wines and Spirits, Wine Globe, Wine.com & D&M Wines & Liquors (San Francisco)
-- W. Blake Gray
Coi aperitif ($10)
What sold us: Champagne cocktails are hard not to like, but often are too sweet. At Coi, the house aperitif created by sommelier and partner Paul Einbund doesn't have that problem.
He brews a strong hibiscus tea and infuses it with essential oils of cassia cinnamon and litsea cubeba, a pepperlike plant with a lemony aroma.
When serving the drink, he grates the faintest flicker of long pepper into a Champagne flute, then tops it with the tea and Adami Prosecco.
Where to find: Internet Wines and Spirits, Wine Globe, Wine.com & Coi restaurant (San Francisco)
-- Tara Duggan
2000 Cronin Santa Cruz Mountains Chardonnay ($10)
What sold us: Former software consultant Duane Cronin had a near-cult following for his Woodside winery.
Before his death a few months ago, he made arrangements to offer his remaining wines through K&L Wine Merchants, whose staff would sometimes help Cronin bottle.
For this final vintage, it's hard to know which is more unlikely: great aged Chardonnay for a sawbuck, or a California Chard that has earned the right to wear the "Burgundian" moniker so many wineries love to use.
Packed with honeycomb and golden apple, it's still rich and minerally, with impressive acidity to balance.
Where to find: Internet Wines and Spirits, Wine Globe, Wine.com & K&L Wine Merchants (San Francisco, Redwood City)
-- Jon Bonné
----------------------
2005 Domaine du Salvard Cheverny ($13)
What sold us: It's summer and we're eating lighter foods. Fresh young vegetables are a joy, but they are something of a challenge to pair with wine. Jeff Bareilles, sommelier at Manresa, pulled off a stunning pairing.
He poured a 2005 Domaine du Salvard Cheverny (Sauvignon Blanc with touch of Chardonnay) with a sublime vegetable and gnocchi dish that chef David Kinch created using about 12 kinds of biodynamically grown greens.
It was crisp, light, lively and played up the flavors on the plate without drowning them. It was $13 by the glass at the restaurant, but for the same price you can buy the bottle retail.
Where to find: Internet Wines and Spirits, Wine Globe & Wine.com
BAR PATROL / Get schooled
You, too, can mix like the pros. Cocktail conclave Bourbon & Branch recently e-mailed customers about its new Beverage Academy, which will begin in a few weeks. Up to 15 people at a time can attend a series of Monday cocktail classes.
The drink menu has also been updated with even more elderflower cocktails (one with gin, one with bourbon), a new cucumber drink, a Black Manhattan made with Italian liqueur, house apple clove bitters, and a martini with house-smoked olives. Two bourbon flights will be offered during May.
Even better, the bar will now be open Mondays for your post-work pleasure. And you can monitor other drinking developments via its new blog: blog.bourbonandbranch.com.
-- Camper English
--------------------
In our glasses
What we're drinking
The Macallan Cask Strength Single Malt Highland Scotch Whisky ($55)
What sold us: This 117-proof Scotch is a potent, rich, decadent whisky with flavors of caramel, Sherry, toasted almond and currants and a particularly long finish. "Cask strength" means it comes straight out of the used Sherry barrels in which it was aged, rather than having water added to bring down its alcohol percentage, as is done with most whiskies.
Add your own drops of water, as wee as you like, and notice how the mouthfeel softens.
Where to find: Internet Wines and Spirits, Wine Globe, Wine.com & D&M Wines & Liquors (San Francisco)
-- W. Blake Gray
Coi aperitif ($10)
What sold us: Champagne cocktails are hard not to like, but often are too sweet. At Coi, the house aperitif created by sommelier and partner Paul Einbund doesn't have that problem.
He brews a strong hibiscus tea and infuses it with essential oils of cassia cinnamon and litsea cubeba, a pepperlike plant with a lemony aroma.
When serving the drink, he grates the faintest flicker of long pepper into a Champagne flute, then tops it with the tea and Adami Prosecco.
Where to find: Internet Wines and Spirits, Wine Globe, Wine.com & Coi restaurant (San Francisco)
-- Tara Duggan
2000 Cronin Santa Cruz Mountains Chardonnay ($10)
What sold us: Former software consultant Duane Cronin had a near-cult following for his Woodside winery.
Before his death a few months ago, he made arrangements to offer his remaining wines through K&L Wine Merchants, whose staff would sometimes help Cronin bottle.
For this final vintage, it's hard to know which is more unlikely: great aged Chardonnay for a sawbuck, or a California Chard that has earned the right to wear the "Burgundian" moniker so many wineries love to use.
Packed with honeycomb and golden apple, it's still rich and minerally, with impressive acidity to balance.
Where to find: Internet Wines and Spirits, Wine Globe, Wine.com & K&L Wine Merchants (San Francisco, Redwood City)
-- Jon Bonné
----------------------
2005 Domaine du Salvard Cheverny ($13)
What sold us: It's summer and we're eating lighter foods. Fresh young vegetables are a joy, but they are something of a challenge to pair with wine. Jeff Bareilles, sommelier at Manresa, pulled off a stunning pairing.
He poured a 2005 Domaine du Salvard Cheverny (Sauvignon Blanc with touch of Chardonnay) with a sublime vegetable and gnocchi dish that chef David Kinch created using about 12 kinds of biodynamically grown greens.
It was crisp, light, lively and played up the flavors on the plate without drowning them. It was $13 by the glass at the restaurant, but for the same price you can buy the bottle retail.
Where to find: Internet Wines and Spirits, Wine Globe & Wine.com
Saturday, May 26, 2007
Success and Wealth Covered in 4 steps
By: Melanie Hudson
The success is something that is left to be judged on case by case basis. Only a handful of people in modern democracies consider themselves as really successful. There are two universal factors that we identify with word “success”.
The first one is most likely to be “wealth”. In global view wealth is extremely rare. At the end of the twentieth century a study found that richest 2% of people own well over 50% of global household assets.
But wealth should not necessary be generalized on greed or materialism. The second category tightly connected with success would be “respect”. Having respect more or less means being appreciated by the community for the work we do.
Respect in its core means no less than being loved by others. Respect and love are basis of happiness, a crucial quality of success that can not be covered by material wealth. There are 4 really strong principles to follow if you want to get close to the selected group of successful individuals:
1. Do the things other people are afraid of!
All you need to do is to get out of that pool of mediocrity and to understand that you do not need to be an average guy. How to do it? Do the things other people are afraid of! Majority of people are afraid of public performance, talking to strangers,... Well, do not be like that. Go out, speak to people, dare to stand up for your goals.
2. Search for motivation within yourself!
The easiest motivation is the so called “he motivation”. If he could do it, I can do it as well. That is the poorest way to drive your dreams forward because life will put hurdles on your way, hurdles that no other successful person had to cross.
And you will stumble, thinking that no one has ever made it with such a bad luck. Accept bad luck and do not become a part of it – do not let it drain your motivation. You have to realize that you are unique because you have the choice to be different.
Your mindset is responsible for bringing you closer to your goal. The attraction law secrets can surely help you with that. Make that power of unique decisions and positive mindset your key motivators because all you will ever need to succeed is “you”.
3. Do some mistakes!
There are some mistakes you will have to do, even though you know you will fail. Some mistakes can not and should not be learned from others. If you are not prepared to go wrong, there is no way you will learn the positive effect of doing mistakes.
You will have to fail 99 times in order to become good enough to succeed in attempt number 100. That 100th person, decision, event, attempt… will support your goals and will make it worth falling 99 times.
But if you would not have failed 99 times, you would never have had a chance to gain experience of making that last attempt a real success. And there is no way to learn that from other people mistakes.
4. Be sociable!
In the modern world of web based businesses and virtual realities, short messages and spam mails, it is easy to forget that people are the ones that will decide of your success or failure. The wealth is in hands of human beings, and you need to communicate with people on a personal level all the time.
There is always a living person behind each an every decision that is being made on this planet. How to be more sociable? This one is old as the bible and will probably never lose its power. Treat people in a same way you would like to be treated!
And that statement very much involves talking to people, making them feel important, special and loved. Never miss a chance to share a nice word with people surrounding you and to listen to them.
You will find out that 4 steps of building a successful life cover much more than just “increasing wealth” and “gaining respect”. Implementing them to your life will open your eyes to a whole new world of personal growth opportunities.
Wrap each goal you have into proven findings of attraction law secret and there is no mountain you can not conquer.
For the full length article on success, personal growth and wealth visit Melanie Hudson’s success building site at http://www.attraction-law-secret.com .
The success is something that is left to be judged on case by case basis. Only a handful of people in modern democracies consider themselves as really successful. There are two universal factors that we identify with word “success”.
The first one is most likely to be “wealth”. In global view wealth is extremely rare. At the end of the twentieth century a study found that richest 2% of people own well over 50% of global household assets.
But wealth should not necessary be generalized on greed or materialism. The second category tightly connected with success would be “respect”. Having respect more or less means being appreciated by the community for the work we do.
Respect in its core means no less than being loved by others. Respect and love are basis of happiness, a crucial quality of success that can not be covered by material wealth. There are 4 really strong principles to follow if you want to get close to the selected group of successful individuals:
1. Do the things other people are afraid of!
All you need to do is to get out of that pool of mediocrity and to understand that you do not need to be an average guy. How to do it? Do the things other people are afraid of! Majority of people are afraid of public performance, talking to strangers,... Well, do not be like that. Go out, speak to people, dare to stand up for your goals.
2. Search for motivation within yourself!
The easiest motivation is the so called “he motivation”. If he could do it, I can do it as well. That is the poorest way to drive your dreams forward because life will put hurdles on your way, hurdles that no other successful person had to cross.
And you will stumble, thinking that no one has ever made it with such a bad luck. Accept bad luck and do not become a part of it – do not let it drain your motivation. You have to realize that you are unique because you have the choice to be different.
Your mindset is responsible for bringing you closer to your goal. The attraction law secrets can surely help you with that. Make that power of unique decisions and positive mindset your key motivators because all you will ever need to succeed is “you”.
3. Do some mistakes!
There are some mistakes you will have to do, even though you know you will fail. Some mistakes can not and should not be learned from others. If you are not prepared to go wrong, there is no way you will learn the positive effect of doing mistakes.
You will have to fail 99 times in order to become good enough to succeed in attempt number 100. That 100th person, decision, event, attempt… will support your goals and will make it worth falling 99 times.
But if you would not have failed 99 times, you would never have had a chance to gain experience of making that last attempt a real success. And there is no way to learn that from other people mistakes.
4. Be sociable!
In the modern world of web based businesses and virtual realities, short messages and spam mails, it is easy to forget that people are the ones that will decide of your success or failure. The wealth is in hands of human beings, and you need to communicate with people on a personal level all the time.
There is always a living person behind each an every decision that is being made on this planet. How to be more sociable? This one is old as the bible and will probably never lose its power. Treat people in a same way you would like to be treated!
And that statement very much involves talking to people, making them feel important, special and loved. Never miss a chance to share a nice word with people surrounding you and to listen to them.
You will find out that 4 steps of building a successful life cover much more than just “increasing wealth” and “gaining respect”. Implementing them to your life will open your eyes to a whole new world of personal growth opportunities.
Wrap each goal you have into proven findings of attraction law secret and there is no mountain you can not conquer.
For the full length article on success, personal growth and wealth visit Melanie Hudson’s success building site at http://www.attraction-law-secret.com .
Bankruptcy and Your Business
By: Adam Heist
Bankruptcy for your business can be a traumatic event. However, it can become necessary, and at a certain point there is a need to move on in your economic life, just like it can become necessary in your personal life.
Bankruptcy can happen to a business in a variety of ways. When someone is running a home business, they may have a series of orders that fall through while production or buying of inventory continues.
They find themselves stuck with more inventory than they no what to do with and may simply sell off the inventory for whatever price they can and stop the business by inertia.
If someone has gotten loans to start up their home business, then they can be forced to go through a formal Chapter 11 or Chapter 7 bankruptcy.
This can be even more difficult if you have been operating as a self-proprietorship, and your personal assets are the backup for your business operations. Often, it is worthwhile, even for a fairly small business operation, to form an LLC, a Limited Liability Company, to be able to separate your business assets from your personal assets.
This can cost about $500, but it is well worth the protection you receive in this way. Of course, you may still need personal bankruptcy protection if you had put up personal assets in order to take out loans. Bankruptcy does not have to be a straight liquidation process.
In fact, as we look at big business, many large firms go through a Chapter 11 Bankruptcy, a reorganization of their assets and debts and emerge to continue in business. Or they are bought out by other companies.
For example, there was the large bankruptcy of the retailer K-Mart that was subsequently bought out by Sears and since then seems to be doing fairly well. This type of reorganization can apply to small businesses that have been doing well, but may have overextended themselves and temporarily cannot pay their debt on time.
By writing off debt, or portions of it, and converting short-term debt to long-term debt, a business that has bitten off more than it can chew, can be brought back from the brink and be reorganized to continue in business.
Two-thirds of the creditors committee in the bankruptcy has to agree to the reorganization plan. Larger and some smaller firms can get financing while in bankruptcy, in order to be able to successfully reorganize.
Bankruptcy for your business can be a traumatic event. However, it can become necessary, and at a certain point there is a need to move on in your economic life, just like it can become necessary in your personal life.
Bankruptcy can happen to a business in a variety of ways. When someone is running a home business, they may have a series of orders that fall through while production or buying of inventory continues.
They find themselves stuck with more inventory than they no what to do with and may simply sell off the inventory for whatever price they can and stop the business by inertia.
If someone has gotten loans to start up their home business, then they can be forced to go through a formal Chapter 11 or Chapter 7 bankruptcy.
This can be even more difficult if you have been operating as a self-proprietorship, and your personal assets are the backup for your business operations. Often, it is worthwhile, even for a fairly small business operation, to form an LLC, a Limited Liability Company, to be able to separate your business assets from your personal assets.
This can cost about $500, but it is well worth the protection you receive in this way. Of course, you may still need personal bankruptcy protection if you had put up personal assets in order to take out loans. Bankruptcy does not have to be a straight liquidation process.
In fact, as we look at big business, many large firms go through a Chapter 11 Bankruptcy, a reorganization of their assets and debts and emerge to continue in business. Or they are bought out by other companies.
For example, there was the large bankruptcy of the retailer K-Mart that was subsequently bought out by Sears and since then seems to be doing fairly well. This type of reorganization can apply to small businesses that have been doing well, but may have overextended themselves and temporarily cannot pay their debt on time.
By writing off debt, or portions of it, and converting short-term debt to long-term debt, a business that has bitten off more than it can chew, can be brought back from the brink and be reorganized to continue in business.
Two-thirds of the creditors committee in the bankruptcy has to agree to the reorganization plan. Larger and some smaller firms can get financing while in bankruptcy, in order to be able to successfully reorganize.
A splash of Champagne tops off the refreshing Starfish Cooler
By Gary Regan
The Professor, our cocktailian bartender, is on vacation, so there's a new face behind the stick today. Cindy has been tending bar at a nearby joint for a couple of years, and she's taken a leave of absence from her regular gig in order to fill in for the Professor for a few weeks.
"Good afternoon, my name is ..."
"Your name is Doc, you're a longtime regular, you're a good friend of the Professor's, and you linger at the bar for hours on end reading old books. You mostly sip on beer, but you're always ready to try a new cocktail, and you're an OK tipper. Not a great tipper, mind, but you're here a lot, so that's OK."
"I see the Professor gave you the lowdown on me," says Doc.
"He e-mailed me a 16-page document detailing most, if not all, of the regulars here. He's nothing if not anal, huh?"
"That he is, m'dear, that he is."
"OK, Doc, you and I need to get a couple of things straight. My name is Cindy, not m'dear. I'm not offended, but I will be if you call me that again.
I'm a bit of a bookworm myself, so perhaps we can chat about what flies your kite at the library, and I'll tell you about the sort of stuff that makes my boat sail. You're welcome to sit here for as many hours as take your fancy, I don't need you to run up a big tab, and I don't need a huge tip, either.
What I do need, though, is for you to join me in sampling a Starfish Cooler. New drink. OK with you?" Cindy is wearing a semi-serious look on her face, but there's a twinkle in her eye that tells Doc they'll probably get along just fine.
"Bring it on, Cindy. Let me have a beer first, though, would you? There's a dear, erm, sorry. Slip of the tongue. Old habits and all that. Just a beer, please, then we'll sample your new drink."
Cindy grins, pulls a draft for Doc, and starts to assemble a Starfish Cooler. It's the official drink for this year's Tales of the Cocktail, an annual five-day New Orleans event that takes place in July.
The drink, created by Stacy Smith, a bartender at G.W. Fins, a highly acclaimed seafood restaurant in the Big Easy, is a refreshing quaff that calls for an ounce of Champagne to give it a sparkle.
For more than one reason, Champagne can be well utilized in cocktails.
Champagne, of course, adds bubbles to the drink, and makes it just a little more celebratory, and it also cuts down on the alcohol content, since less liquor is needed to fill the glass. There's often a price differential, too, since Champagne is often less expensive than fine distilled spirits.
Cindy sashays down the bar with a Starfish Cooler in hand, but before she hands it to Doc she takes a sip for herself.
"I'm not altogether sure if this will slice your bread, Doc, but it's certainly right up my alley," she says as she places the drink in front of the Professor's old friend. Doc takes a sip.
"Consider my bread sliced, Cindy. The mustard has been cut. I'm up the alley with you, my kite is flying high, and my boat is sailing merrily along.
"Doc."
"Yes?"
"You're trying too hard."
Doc mutters something unintelligible and puts his nose back into his book.
Makes 1 drink
Adapted from a recipe by Stacy Smith, bartender at G.W. Fins, New Orleans.
INGREDIENTS:
1 orange slice
1 mint leaf
1 ounce limoncello
1 ounce PAMA pomegranate liqueur
1 ounce unsweetened iced tea
1/2 ounce simple syrup
1 ounce Moet & Chandon White Star Champagne
1 mint sprig, for garnish
INSTRUCTIONS:
Instructions: Muddle the orange slice and mint leaf in collins glass. Add ice and the limoncello, PAMA, iced tea, simple syrup and Champagne. Stir briefly, then add the garnish.
Gary Regan is the author of "The Joy of Mixology: The Consummate Guide to the Bartender's Craft." E-mail him at wine@sfchronicle.com.
The Professor, our cocktailian bartender, is on vacation, so there's a new face behind the stick today. Cindy has been tending bar at a nearby joint for a couple of years, and she's taken a leave of absence from her regular gig in order to fill in for the Professor for a few weeks.
"Good afternoon, my name is ..."
"Your name is Doc, you're a longtime regular, you're a good friend of the Professor's, and you linger at the bar for hours on end reading old books. You mostly sip on beer, but you're always ready to try a new cocktail, and you're an OK tipper. Not a great tipper, mind, but you're here a lot, so that's OK."
"I see the Professor gave you the lowdown on me," says Doc.
"He e-mailed me a 16-page document detailing most, if not all, of the regulars here. He's nothing if not anal, huh?"
"That he is, m'dear, that he is."
"OK, Doc, you and I need to get a couple of things straight. My name is Cindy, not m'dear. I'm not offended, but I will be if you call me that again.
I'm a bit of a bookworm myself, so perhaps we can chat about what flies your kite at the library, and I'll tell you about the sort of stuff that makes my boat sail. You're welcome to sit here for as many hours as take your fancy, I don't need you to run up a big tab, and I don't need a huge tip, either.
What I do need, though, is for you to join me in sampling a Starfish Cooler. New drink. OK with you?" Cindy is wearing a semi-serious look on her face, but there's a twinkle in her eye that tells Doc they'll probably get along just fine.
"Bring it on, Cindy. Let me have a beer first, though, would you? There's a dear, erm, sorry. Slip of the tongue. Old habits and all that. Just a beer, please, then we'll sample your new drink."
Cindy grins, pulls a draft for Doc, and starts to assemble a Starfish Cooler. It's the official drink for this year's Tales of the Cocktail, an annual five-day New Orleans event that takes place in July.
The drink, created by Stacy Smith, a bartender at G.W. Fins, a highly acclaimed seafood restaurant in the Big Easy, is a refreshing quaff that calls for an ounce of Champagne to give it a sparkle.
For more than one reason, Champagne can be well utilized in cocktails.
Champagne, of course, adds bubbles to the drink, and makes it just a little more celebratory, and it also cuts down on the alcohol content, since less liquor is needed to fill the glass. There's often a price differential, too, since Champagne is often less expensive than fine distilled spirits.
Cindy sashays down the bar with a Starfish Cooler in hand, but before she hands it to Doc she takes a sip for herself.
"I'm not altogether sure if this will slice your bread, Doc, but it's certainly right up my alley," she says as she places the drink in front of the Professor's old friend. Doc takes a sip.
"Consider my bread sliced, Cindy. The mustard has been cut. I'm up the alley with you, my kite is flying high, and my boat is sailing merrily along.
"Doc."
"Yes?"
"You're trying too hard."
Doc mutters something unintelligible and puts his nose back into his book.
-----------------------
Starfish Cooler
Makes 1 drink
Adapted from a recipe by Stacy Smith, bartender at G.W. Fins, New Orleans.
INGREDIENTS:
1 orange slice
1 mint leaf
1 ounce limoncello
1 ounce PAMA pomegranate liqueur
1 ounce unsweetened iced tea
1/2 ounce simple syrup
1 ounce Moet & Chandon White Star Champagne
1 mint sprig, for garnish
INSTRUCTIONS:
Instructions: Muddle the orange slice and mint leaf in collins glass. Add ice and the limoncello, PAMA, iced tea, simple syrup and Champagne. Stir briefly, then add the garnish.
Gary Regan is the author of "The Joy of Mixology: The Consummate Guide to the Bartender's Craft." E-mail him at wine@sfchronicle.com.
Friday, May 25, 2007
Protecting Your Business against Internal Fraud
These four basic types of internal financial fraud cost businesses ten times more than all other crimes against businesses combined:
Embezzlement, also called larceny, is the illegal use of funds by a person who controls those funds. For example, a bookkeeper may use company money for his own personal needs.
Many times, embezzlement stories don’t make it into the paper because businesspeople are so embarrassed that they choose to keep the affair quiet instead. They usually settle privately with the embezzler rather than face public scrutiny.
Internal theft is the stealing of company assets by employees, such as taking office supplies or products the company sells without paying for them. Internal theft is often the culprit behind inventory shrinkage.
Payoffs and kickbacks are situations in which employees accept cash or other benefits in exchange for access to the company’s business, often creating a scenario in which the company that the employee works for pays more for the goods or products than necessary.
That extra money finds its way into the pockets of the employee who helped facilitate the access. In reality, payoffs and kickbacks are a form of bribery, but few companies report or litigate this problem (although sometimes employees are fired when deals are uncovered).
Skimming occurs when employees take money from receipts and don’t record the revenue on the books.
Find out how to guard against internal theft and embezzlement with Bookkeeping For Dummies, by Lita Epstein, MBA.
Related Articles
Recognizing the Importance of a Paper Trail
Converting Your Manual Bookkeeping to a Computerized System
Deciding between Cash-Basis and Accrual Accounting
Embezzlement, also called larceny, is the illegal use of funds by a person who controls those funds. For example, a bookkeeper may use company money for his own personal needs.
Many times, embezzlement stories don’t make it into the paper because businesspeople are so embarrassed that they choose to keep the affair quiet instead. They usually settle privately with the embezzler rather than face public scrutiny.
Internal theft is the stealing of company assets by employees, such as taking office supplies or products the company sells without paying for them. Internal theft is often the culprit behind inventory shrinkage.
Payoffs and kickbacks are situations in which employees accept cash or other benefits in exchange for access to the company’s business, often creating a scenario in which the company that the employee works for pays more for the goods or products than necessary.
That extra money finds its way into the pockets of the employee who helped facilitate the access. In reality, payoffs and kickbacks are a form of bribery, but few companies report or litigate this problem (although sometimes employees are fired when deals are uncovered).
Skimming occurs when employees take money from receipts and don’t record the revenue on the books.
Find out how to guard against internal theft and embezzlement with Bookkeeping For Dummies, by Lita Epstein, MBA.
Related Articles
Recognizing the Importance of a Paper Trail
Converting Your Manual Bookkeeping to a Computerized System
Deciding between Cash-Basis and Accrual Accounting
9 Must Follows for Cash Flow
By: Adam Heist
Money is the blood line of any business. It is a fact that over 90% of businesses go out of business within the first year and the reason is inadequate cash flow. Go figure! So what are the pitfalls to avoid and measures to take?
Have a look below:-
1. Never run out of cash
Failure in business is simply running out of cash. Make sure this doesn’t happen to you by keeping extra reserves locked away for down periods.
2. Cash is King
Remember what you are in business for (to make money) and respect that fact by giving it the care and attention it deserves. For if you don’t it will return the favor.
3. Know your Cash Position
Too many people make wrong decisions because of the fact that they don’t know the facts of their business. Don’t let this happen to you. You must know exactly what you have in the bank at this very moment to ensure you make well informed decisions.
4. Complete Today’s Work TODAY
The only way to keep an up to date information system regarding your cash flow is to ensure that today’s work gets done today. Otherwise you will be making decisions on historical data, which is also incomplete.
5. Do it or Delegate it
The only way to make sure work gets done is either to do it yourself or to make sure that you get some one else to do it. Either way, make sure that what needs to be done, is being done by some one.
6. Bank is not equal to Cash
Your heading for big trouble if your managing from your bank balance. Cash balance is not the same as bank balance which may have uncleared checks, pending transactions and a host of other things.
7. Look 6 months in to the Future
You should know what your cash balance is likely to be 6 months in to the future. That given you are well on your way to understanding the health of your business. Therefore, if ever down, you will have plenty of notice to correct it before it is too late.
8. Projections are a Must
Cash flow problems don’t just happen. They are reached slowly and the signs are always there if some one is looking carefully. So make sure you are looking at the signs so you are prepared well in time.
9. Eliminate Concern
If you are always worrying about your cash flow then you are not concentrating on your business as much as you should. Make sure to eliminate all cash flow worries and focus your time on growing your business.
Money is the blood line of any business. It is a fact that over 90% of businesses go out of business within the first year and the reason is inadequate cash flow. Go figure! So what are the pitfalls to avoid and measures to take?
Have a look below:-
1. Never run out of cash
Failure in business is simply running out of cash. Make sure this doesn’t happen to you by keeping extra reserves locked away for down periods.
2. Cash is King
Remember what you are in business for (to make money) and respect that fact by giving it the care and attention it deserves. For if you don’t it will return the favor.
3. Know your Cash Position
Too many people make wrong decisions because of the fact that they don’t know the facts of their business. Don’t let this happen to you. You must know exactly what you have in the bank at this very moment to ensure you make well informed decisions.
4. Complete Today’s Work TODAY
The only way to keep an up to date information system regarding your cash flow is to ensure that today’s work gets done today. Otherwise you will be making decisions on historical data, which is also incomplete.
5. Do it or Delegate it
The only way to make sure work gets done is either to do it yourself or to make sure that you get some one else to do it. Either way, make sure that what needs to be done, is being done by some one.
6. Bank is not equal to Cash
Your heading for big trouble if your managing from your bank balance. Cash balance is not the same as bank balance which may have uncleared checks, pending transactions and a host of other things.
7. Look 6 months in to the Future
You should know what your cash balance is likely to be 6 months in to the future. That given you are well on your way to understanding the health of your business. Therefore, if ever down, you will have plenty of notice to correct it before it is too late.
8. Projections are a Must
Cash flow problems don’t just happen. They are reached slowly and the signs are always there if some one is looking carefully. So make sure you are looking at the signs so you are prepared well in time.
9. Eliminate Concern
If you are always worrying about your cash flow then you are not concentrating on your business as much as you should. Make sure to eliminate all cash flow worries and focus your time on growing your business.
Bar crawl celebrates local mixologists
By Amanda Berne
Pin curls, old-school Mustangs and '40s-style red lipstick all mesh perfectly with my love of classic style, which also includes a Manhattan on the rocks.
But my pin curls were once magenta, the Mustang made way for motorcycles, and the red lipstick sometimes gets swapped for green eye shadow. The Manhattan? Well, when I'm feeling adventurous, I'll take something a little more up to date.
In celebration of my split personality -- I mean, San Francisco's first-ever Cocktail Week -- I ventured to several local bars on Monday night. Each is serving two special drinks -- one classic and one not-so-classic concoction -- for the occasion.
Three top bar owners/managers in San Francisco -- Absinthe's Jeff Hollinger, Elixir's H. Joseph Ehrmann and Cantina's Duggan McDonnell -- organized Cocktail Week to show off the San Francisco cocktail scene.
On Monday night, a bus tour of six local gin joints to kick off Cocktail Week started at the Mission District's Elixir. Twenty of us mingled, sipping the first classic drink of the night -- the Corpse Reviver No. 2.
Sounds like a B-horror movie, right? But the pale-yellow cocktail with a cherry balanced on top was adapted from a recipe in "The Savoy Cocktail Book," a British book published in the 1930s, and has a hint of Herbsaint (would've been absinthe in the good ol' days) and a healthy dose of lemon.
Ehrmann claims that the Corpse Reviver No. 2 is a hangover helper, but as the first drink of the evening, I figured it would help me achieve a hangover. A few sips, five more to go, and I was ready for the next cocktail.
The modern drink at Elixir was an Eldersour, which Ehrmann came up with after stumbling upon rose hips at a Russian grocery in the Richmond District. It's floral with a good dose of rose hip-infused vodka, St. Germain elderflower liqueur, classic sour mix, powdered sugar, bitters and organic egg whites.
Both cocktails are tied together with a tart punch of lemon, but the first is spicier, while the latter has a creamy texture.
"I like to keep a simple balance," says Ehrmann. "Alcohol, acid and sugar." With that, we boarded the bus for "Camp Drink-a-Lot" with our cocktail counselors in tow, wielding the microphone and a bottle, or two, of Tequila.
They all took turns talking to the rapt crowd about Cocktail Week. May 13 was National Cocktail Day, but the San Francisco bartenders banded together to stretch out the one-day celebration through May 21, when Chronicle contributor Gary Regan was bartending at a benefit at Absinthe.
"The result of this week is that San Francisco could be branded as a cocktail community," says McDonnell. "We know we're there, but we're hoping that this creates a trickle-down effect for the rest of the country to know we're there."
The bus pulled up to Distillery 209, a small-batch gin distillery on Pier 50. The gin is light and zesty, with a floral note from the spice cocktail of bergamot, juniper, cardamom and coriander.
Hollinger jumped behind the makeshift bar, as distiller Arne Hillesland walked the gin-loving group through the small warehouse space and into the spice trailer for a little scratch-and-sniff session.
We crushed pods of cardamom, tasted juniper and swooned over dried bergamot before popping out for another round of drinks.
Then it was off to the Upper Haight, where Alembic owner Dave McLean and bar manager Daniel Hyatt greeted us with mint juleps. It had been 10 minutes since I had a drink, and boy was I parched.
The group stood around the crowded bar, feeling ever so posh as we sipped icy-cold bourbon-based goodness out of the traditional silver tumblers. We nibbled hand-fried potato chips between beverages.
"You should never go wanting," says Hollinger, as he passed a drink to freelance writer Karen Solomon. Hollinger stops by Alembic a couple of times a week, mostly to admire the extensive whiskey collection.
On the bus, he admitted a bias. "I don't mean to offend anyone here, but Alembic is my favorite bar right now," says Hollinger. "Besides Absinthe, of course."
But the bartenders heartily agree. They appreciate McLean's philosophy of using as many local ingredients as he can -- he even built the bar out of reclaimed wood from nearby Kezar Stadium.
Alembic's original drink, Vow of Silence, plays off one of the ingredients, Benedictine, and offers quite a smack in the head of alcohol with rye, the cherry liqueur Creme de Griotte and bitters. I ordered a Sazerac on the side, just to balance things out.
We kidnapped McLean, forcing him onto the bus, and passed around the Corralejo Tequila blanco (now half full) as we headed downtown to the grand opening of Cantina, the long-awaited bar from McDonnell.
The Latin-inspired bar has bright walls, tons of artwork and an extensive cachaca, Tequila and rum selection. "Where places like Alembic do a great job with whiskey," says Ehrmann, "Duggan is going to make rum hot."
Sazeracs greeted us at the door with an assault of smokiness from the addition of mescal. As Jan Newberry, food and wine editor of San Francisco magazine, delicately says, as I place my half-full glass aside, "Mescal is just not for everyone."
The special drinks at Cantina this week are the pisco punch, a Latin American favorite, and a marmalade cooler. Four bars, a couple of hours off the written schedule and a whole ton of fun later, and this girl about town was beat.
With a day job to answer to, I had reached my limit. Others moved on to Rye, just up the street, for an original Dogpatch and a classic (sniff) Manhattan. Then onto Bourbon & Branch for two types of martinis -- the old standard 1896 Martini and the newer model Todd's Smoked Olive Martini.
I snuck out of Cantina right after a toast to the opening, bumping into other just-arrived bar folks there to offer support, or tend bar -- Scott Beattie from Cyrus, Dominic Venegas from Range -- but before I left, McDonnell flashed one of his characteristic grins, which will keep his bar crowded long after the buzz wears off.
"We dig so much what we are doing," says McDonnell. Then he happily mixed, shaked and smiled for the quickly filling bar.
Now that's classic.
Pin curls, old-school Mustangs and '40s-style red lipstick all mesh perfectly with my love of classic style, which also includes a Manhattan on the rocks.
But my pin curls were once magenta, the Mustang made way for motorcycles, and the red lipstick sometimes gets swapped for green eye shadow. The Manhattan? Well, when I'm feeling adventurous, I'll take something a little more up to date.
In celebration of my split personality -- I mean, San Francisco's first-ever Cocktail Week -- I ventured to several local bars on Monday night. Each is serving two special drinks -- one classic and one not-so-classic concoction -- for the occasion.
Three top bar owners/managers in San Francisco -- Absinthe's Jeff Hollinger, Elixir's H. Joseph Ehrmann and Cantina's Duggan McDonnell -- organized Cocktail Week to show off the San Francisco cocktail scene.
On Monday night, a bus tour of six local gin joints to kick off Cocktail Week started at the Mission District's Elixir. Twenty of us mingled, sipping the first classic drink of the night -- the Corpse Reviver No. 2.
Sounds like a B-horror movie, right? But the pale-yellow cocktail with a cherry balanced on top was adapted from a recipe in "The Savoy Cocktail Book," a British book published in the 1930s, and has a hint of Herbsaint (would've been absinthe in the good ol' days) and a healthy dose of lemon.
Ehrmann claims that the Corpse Reviver No. 2 is a hangover helper, but as the first drink of the evening, I figured it would help me achieve a hangover. A few sips, five more to go, and I was ready for the next cocktail.
The modern drink at Elixir was an Eldersour, which Ehrmann came up with after stumbling upon rose hips at a Russian grocery in the Richmond District. It's floral with a good dose of rose hip-infused vodka, St. Germain elderflower liqueur, classic sour mix, powdered sugar, bitters and organic egg whites.
Both cocktails are tied together with a tart punch of lemon, but the first is spicier, while the latter has a creamy texture.
"I like to keep a simple balance," says Ehrmann. "Alcohol, acid and sugar." With that, we boarded the bus for "Camp Drink-a-Lot" with our cocktail counselors in tow, wielding the microphone and a bottle, or two, of Tequila.
They all took turns talking to the rapt crowd about Cocktail Week. May 13 was National Cocktail Day, but the San Francisco bartenders banded together to stretch out the one-day celebration through May 21, when Chronicle contributor Gary Regan was bartending at a benefit at Absinthe.
"The result of this week is that San Francisco could be branded as a cocktail community," says McDonnell. "We know we're there, but we're hoping that this creates a trickle-down effect for the rest of the country to know we're there."
The bus pulled up to Distillery 209, a small-batch gin distillery on Pier 50. The gin is light and zesty, with a floral note from the spice cocktail of bergamot, juniper, cardamom and coriander.
Hollinger jumped behind the makeshift bar, as distiller Arne Hillesland walked the gin-loving group through the small warehouse space and into the spice trailer for a little scratch-and-sniff session.
We crushed pods of cardamom, tasted juniper and swooned over dried bergamot before popping out for another round of drinks.
Then it was off to the Upper Haight, where Alembic owner Dave McLean and bar manager Daniel Hyatt greeted us with mint juleps. It had been 10 minutes since I had a drink, and boy was I parched.
The group stood around the crowded bar, feeling ever so posh as we sipped icy-cold bourbon-based goodness out of the traditional silver tumblers. We nibbled hand-fried potato chips between beverages.
"You should never go wanting," says Hollinger, as he passed a drink to freelance writer Karen Solomon. Hollinger stops by Alembic a couple of times a week, mostly to admire the extensive whiskey collection.
On the bus, he admitted a bias. "I don't mean to offend anyone here, but Alembic is my favorite bar right now," says Hollinger. "Besides Absinthe, of course."
But the bartenders heartily agree. They appreciate McLean's philosophy of using as many local ingredients as he can -- he even built the bar out of reclaimed wood from nearby Kezar Stadium.
Alembic's original drink, Vow of Silence, plays off one of the ingredients, Benedictine, and offers quite a smack in the head of alcohol with rye, the cherry liqueur Creme de Griotte and bitters. I ordered a Sazerac on the side, just to balance things out.
We kidnapped McLean, forcing him onto the bus, and passed around the Corralejo Tequila blanco (now half full) as we headed downtown to the grand opening of Cantina, the long-awaited bar from McDonnell.
The Latin-inspired bar has bright walls, tons of artwork and an extensive cachaca, Tequila and rum selection. "Where places like Alembic do a great job with whiskey," says Ehrmann, "Duggan is going to make rum hot."
Sazeracs greeted us at the door with an assault of smokiness from the addition of mescal. As Jan Newberry, food and wine editor of San Francisco magazine, delicately says, as I place my half-full glass aside, "Mescal is just not for everyone."
The special drinks at Cantina this week are the pisco punch, a Latin American favorite, and a marmalade cooler. Four bars, a couple of hours off the written schedule and a whole ton of fun later, and this girl about town was beat.
With a day job to answer to, I had reached my limit. Others moved on to Rye, just up the street, for an original Dogpatch and a classic (sniff) Manhattan. Then onto Bourbon & Branch for two types of martinis -- the old standard 1896 Martini and the newer model Todd's Smoked Olive Martini.
I snuck out of Cantina right after a toast to the opening, bumping into other just-arrived bar folks there to offer support, or tend bar -- Scott Beattie from Cyrus, Dominic Venegas from Range -- but before I left, McDonnell flashed one of his characteristic grins, which will keep his bar crowded long after the buzz wears off.
"We dig so much what we are doing," says McDonnell. Then he happily mixed, shaked and smiled for the quickly filling bar.
Now that's classic.
Thursday, May 24, 2007
Starting A Business You Need A Plan
By: David Fishman
One morning you might wake up and like a ton of bricks a great idea for creating and starting your online business comes to mind, and you hadn't a doubt in your mind that you could turn it into a huge success.
Start with the end in mind. Are you planning to start a new business? If you find a viable business you like, document your intentions, intended deal structure and what exact information you need to start your purchase due diligence.
Many small businesses start with a business plan based on guesses. The idea for you business plan comes to mind, its time to start the new business and you are all ready to go but the only problem is that you need money, so it is time to find the investors, angel investors and you will need to show them your business plan.
If you plan to jump into the fray, however, the first step is to create a solid business plan. The business plan you create will be one of the most important documents in your new businesses.
It doesn't matter if your business is just getting started or it is an existing business, creating a business plan helps you understand your business.
If so, have you started writing your business plan yet. In all honestly, when writing anything, even a business plan, it is the wording that makes all the difference in the world.
Writing a plan for your project requires you to have an idea and vision of the whole project, the component parts of the project and the operating system behind your project.
The world is full of business-minded individuals, whether their goals are to lead a multi-million dollar company into the future, or simply start their own small business to provide services that are in demand and services they enjoy performing.
You will need a brief outline of your business, your mission statement, goals, balance sheet, income statement, projected cash flow and plan for unforeseen hindrances.
Therefore, it is very important for the potential business owner to spend as much time and effort preparing and creating a business plan as they do finding the perfect location and the best restaurant ovens.
Show why potential customers will award business to you, rather than your competition. One page of your business plan can have the following information: it can contain the potential partners, employees, board of directors, and you can show where the business will be in future years.
Angel investors want you to succeed and often they also like to give their input and if you end up taking their money for your startup, the need to realize that their input needs to be taken seriously.
One of the great myths is that you only need a Business Plan if you are going to borrow money from a bank. A business plan of a start up business making no money -- for example -- is going to be bigger than the ones that are running and making money already.
The angel and VC investors, are risking their capital money when they invest in your business, they hope in the long run they will receive returns that is worth many times what they put in.
One morning you might wake up and like a ton of bricks a great idea for creating and starting your online business comes to mind, and you hadn't a doubt in your mind that you could turn it into a huge success.
Start with the end in mind. Are you planning to start a new business? If you find a viable business you like, document your intentions, intended deal structure and what exact information you need to start your purchase due diligence.
Many small businesses start with a business plan based on guesses. The idea for you business plan comes to mind, its time to start the new business and you are all ready to go but the only problem is that you need money, so it is time to find the investors, angel investors and you will need to show them your business plan.
If you plan to jump into the fray, however, the first step is to create a solid business plan. The business plan you create will be one of the most important documents in your new businesses.
It doesn't matter if your business is just getting started or it is an existing business, creating a business plan helps you understand your business.
If so, have you started writing your business plan yet. In all honestly, when writing anything, even a business plan, it is the wording that makes all the difference in the world.
Writing a plan for your project requires you to have an idea and vision of the whole project, the component parts of the project and the operating system behind your project.
The world is full of business-minded individuals, whether their goals are to lead a multi-million dollar company into the future, or simply start their own small business to provide services that are in demand and services they enjoy performing.
You will need a brief outline of your business, your mission statement, goals, balance sheet, income statement, projected cash flow and plan for unforeseen hindrances.
Therefore, it is very important for the potential business owner to spend as much time and effort preparing and creating a business plan as they do finding the perfect location and the best restaurant ovens.
Show why potential customers will award business to you, rather than your competition. One page of your business plan can have the following information: it can contain the potential partners, employees, board of directors, and you can show where the business will be in future years.
Angel investors want you to succeed and often they also like to give their input and if you end up taking their money for your startup, the need to realize that their input needs to be taken seriously.
One of the great myths is that you only need a Business Plan if you are going to borrow money from a bank. A business plan of a start up business making no money -- for example -- is going to be bigger than the ones that are running and making money already.
The angel and VC investors, are risking their capital money when they invest in your business, they hope in the long run they will receive returns that is worth many times what they put in.
12 Most Popular Methods to Get out of Debt
By Adam Heist
If you are in debt then there are lots of ways to get yourself out. There are advantages and disadvantages for each and every single one. Here is a brief preview of all of them to help you consider which would be the most appropriate for you.
1. Self Repayment Plan
This is what most people usually begin with. It’s the best way to start repaying your debt. Only if you face a significant problem and are unable to move beyond a certain point do you need to really look at other options.
With planned steps you can do it yourself though. The first thing would be to take stock of your existing financial position. Then make a budget and live to it.
If you have a disciplinary problem then you can set up automated clearing systems with your bank so that you will have no choice but to make the important payments. After that, if you are in need of money, then consider a part time job. Good Luck!
2. Debt Settlement
Debt settlement is when you or a third party go to your creditors and negotiate a scenario where you will pay a fixed amount, either as a one time or regular payment, in return for closing all the dues that you owe to the creditor.
The advantage is that you often get a discount of between 25%-75% on the entire outstanding. This probility of and amount of discount you get depends on how strongly you are able to convince your creditor that this is the last chance that they would recover anything from you.
If you go and hire a third party service provider for this your chances of getting a higher deduction are much better as they are much more experienced than you. However be careful to understand all their fees and charges before your contract them.
3. Debt Consolidation
This is a very helpful method when you have too many separate bills to pay and are unable to meet all of them on a consistent basis. Here you hire a third party service provider to negotiate with your creditors.
Often not only will you get the loan amount waived to 30%-60% of the original amount but you will also have hidden taxes, late fees & other charges waived as well as the interest rate deducted. The balance amount is then divided into regular and management monthly payments.
4. Debt Consolidation Loan
This is a way where if you are currently repaying multiple loans, you can have all your outstandings debts converted into a single loan with a lower rate of interest.
The purpose is to reduce the monthly payments as either interest rates are lowered or the repayment period is extended. It also helps those who lack in financial discipline, to make sure that all loans are repaid and none are overlooked.
5. Credit Counseling
There are many credit counseling agencies which will help you to become completely debt free. They will help you work out payment plans with lower interest rates and fees for your current outstandings.
They will analyze your income debt ratio and help you reduce your living expenses so that you can pay off the loans faster. Here you will make one monthly payment to the counseling party who will then disburse the amount to all the various loans that you have after deducting a small service charge.
While using credit counselors does not usually hamper your credit rating, you no doubt, have to take extreme care in choosing the right agency.
6. Cash Out Refinance
Here you get to tap the equity of your home by refinancing your home and paying your outstanding bills. By refinancing at a lower interest rate or longer duration you end up paying a smaller amount each month with more left to spare.
The advantage comes when you use what extra you have left over, to repay your loans faster. Ofcourse, before you consider refinancing it is important that you understand all the intricacies involved in detail for it is likely to be a complicated process.
7. Retirement Benefits
If you have a 401(k) plan or any other type of pension plan then most employer will allow you to borrow against your retirement account. It is better to borrow than to withdraw the money from you account as this will save you taxes and the 10% penalty.
Also, if you don’t pay back the borrowed amount within 5 years the Internal Revenue Service will assess the taxes and penalties. Also, if you happen to lose you job then you would have to pay back the loan immediately and also pay taxes for premature withdrawal of money. Having said that, this type of loan offers lower rates of interest and is much easier to handle.
8. Credit Union
There are lots of credit unions that offer loans are low interest rates. If you are not already a member then check your eligibility by talking to your employer or other organizations that you may be a member of.
9. Home Equity Loan
Here you can tap the value of your home for borrowing a fixed amount for a set period of time. The interest rate is competitive and you need to repay in low payment schemes.
If you itemize then the interest is usually also minus tax. The downside is that interest can vary according to the economy and incase you are unable to repay the loan, you will lose your home.
10. Insurance
If you are holding any life insurance policy then you can take a loan against the premium already paid. This has competitive interest rates but the biggest advantage is that you don’t even need to repay the loan. The amount is deducted from the proceedings on the maturity of the policy.
11. Credit Cards
If you have a good credit rating you can get a credit card with low or no interest or an initial period. Check with your current issuer what they would offer if you were to transfer the balances from other credit cards to this one.
12. Bankruptcy
This is definitely the last option you should consider as it affects your credit ratings for the next 10 years. It also affects future job and loan prospects. However, in case the debts are too much to handle, chapter 7 & chapter 13 are ways of gaining temporary relief.
If you are in debt then there are lots of ways to get yourself out. There are advantages and disadvantages for each and every single one. Here is a brief preview of all of them to help you consider which would be the most appropriate for you.
1. Self Repayment Plan
This is what most people usually begin with. It’s the best way to start repaying your debt. Only if you face a significant problem and are unable to move beyond a certain point do you need to really look at other options.
With planned steps you can do it yourself though. The first thing would be to take stock of your existing financial position. Then make a budget and live to it.
If you have a disciplinary problem then you can set up automated clearing systems with your bank so that you will have no choice but to make the important payments. After that, if you are in need of money, then consider a part time job. Good Luck!
2. Debt Settlement
Debt settlement is when you or a third party go to your creditors and negotiate a scenario where you will pay a fixed amount, either as a one time or regular payment, in return for closing all the dues that you owe to the creditor.
The advantage is that you often get a discount of between 25%-75% on the entire outstanding. This probility of and amount of discount you get depends on how strongly you are able to convince your creditor that this is the last chance that they would recover anything from you.
If you go and hire a third party service provider for this your chances of getting a higher deduction are much better as they are much more experienced than you. However be careful to understand all their fees and charges before your contract them.
3. Debt Consolidation
This is a very helpful method when you have too many separate bills to pay and are unable to meet all of them on a consistent basis. Here you hire a third party service provider to negotiate with your creditors.
Often not only will you get the loan amount waived to 30%-60% of the original amount but you will also have hidden taxes, late fees & other charges waived as well as the interest rate deducted. The balance amount is then divided into regular and management monthly payments.
4. Debt Consolidation Loan
This is a way where if you are currently repaying multiple loans, you can have all your outstandings debts converted into a single loan with a lower rate of interest.
The purpose is to reduce the monthly payments as either interest rates are lowered or the repayment period is extended. It also helps those who lack in financial discipline, to make sure that all loans are repaid and none are overlooked.
5. Credit Counseling
There are many credit counseling agencies which will help you to become completely debt free. They will help you work out payment plans with lower interest rates and fees for your current outstandings.
They will analyze your income debt ratio and help you reduce your living expenses so that you can pay off the loans faster. Here you will make one monthly payment to the counseling party who will then disburse the amount to all the various loans that you have after deducting a small service charge.
While using credit counselors does not usually hamper your credit rating, you no doubt, have to take extreme care in choosing the right agency.
6. Cash Out Refinance
Here you get to tap the equity of your home by refinancing your home and paying your outstanding bills. By refinancing at a lower interest rate or longer duration you end up paying a smaller amount each month with more left to spare.
The advantage comes when you use what extra you have left over, to repay your loans faster. Ofcourse, before you consider refinancing it is important that you understand all the intricacies involved in detail for it is likely to be a complicated process.
7. Retirement Benefits
If you have a 401(k) plan or any other type of pension plan then most employer will allow you to borrow against your retirement account. It is better to borrow than to withdraw the money from you account as this will save you taxes and the 10% penalty.
Also, if you don’t pay back the borrowed amount within 5 years the Internal Revenue Service will assess the taxes and penalties. Also, if you happen to lose you job then you would have to pay back the loan immediately and also pay taxes for premature withdrawal of money. Having said that, this type of loan offers lower rates of interest and is much easier to handle.
8. Credit Union
There are lots of credit unions that offer loans are low interest rates. If you are not already a member then check your eligibility by talking to your employer or other organizations that you may be a member of.
9. Home Equity Loan
Here you can tap the value of your home for borrowing a fixed amount for a set period of time. The interest rate is competitive and you need to repay in low payment schemes.
If you itemize then the interest is usually also minus tax. The downside is that interest can vary according to the economy and incase you are unable to repay the loan, you will lose your home.
10. Insurance
If you are holding any life insurance policy then you can take a loan against the premium already paid. This has competitive interest rates but the biggest advantage is that you don’t even need to repay the loan. The amount is deducted from the proceedings on the maturity of the policy.
11. Credit Cards
If you have a good credit rating you can get a credit card with low or no interest or an initial period. Check with your current issuer what they would offer if you were to transfer the balances from other credit cards to this one.
12. Bankruptcy
This is definitely the last option you should consider as it affects your credit ratings for the next 10 years. It also affects future job and loan prospects. However, in case the debts are too much to handle, chapter 7 & chapter 13 are ways of gaining temporary relief.
Summer Beverages to Bring Customers in from the Sun
From Nightclub & Bar
The summertime is prime time for bars and clubs. As sure as the swallows return to Capistrano, customers come back to their favorite hangouts for a DeKuyper-enhanced Vodka Collins, a Cruzan-inspired Frozen Daiquiri or a Gran Gala premium Margarita when the mercury begins to climb in May.
The longer days and more relaxed lifestyles not only provide ample opportunity for patrons to frequent their favorite watering holes and to try new venues while on holidays, but the heat supplies all the promotional incentive that any thirsty customer requires to come in from the sun and cool off with a beverage.
Continue reading "Summer Beverages to Bring Customers in from the Sun"
The summertime is prime time for bars and clubs. As sure as the swallows return to Capistrano, customers come back to their favorite hangouts for a DeKuyper-enhanced Vodka Collins, a Cruzan-inspired Frozen Daiquiri or a Gran Gala premium Margarita when the mercury begins to climb in May.
The longer days and more relaxed lifestyles not only provide ample opportunity for patrons to frequent their favorite watering holes and to try new venues while on holidays, but the heat supplies all the promotional incentive that any thirsty customer requires to come in from the sun and cool off with a beverage.
Continue reading "Summer Beverages to Bring Customers in from the Sun"
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Get More Miles for Your Money
by David Bach
Yesterday, I filled up my car's tank and spent $68.75! I just about keeled over. I'm dating myself here, but I remember when you could fill up for five bucks -- and you got a free Hot Wheels car for a full tank.
Not anymore, and certainly not this summer. As I write this, the American Automobile Association's (AAA) Daily Fuel Gauge Report shows the nationwide cost of a gallon of gas at $3.09. Some parts of the country will see the cost of a gallon of gas increase to $4 in the coming months, with a combination of lower inventories and increasingly higher demands to blame.
Continue reading "Get More Miles for Your Money”
Yesterday, I filled up my car's tank and spent $68.75! I just about keeled over. I'm dating myself here, but I remember when you could fill up for five bucks -- and you got a free Hot Wheels car for a full tank.
Not anymore, and certainly not this summer. As I write this, the American Automobile Association's (AAA) Daily Fuel Gauge Report shows the nationwide cost of a gallon of gas at $3.09. Some parts of the country will see the cost of a gallon of gas increase to $4 in the coming months, with a combination of lower inventories and increasingly higher demands to blame.
Continue reading "Get More Miles for Your Money”
How You Can Find The Secret To Making Money That You As An Entrepreneur Needs To Know Now
By Greg Nicholls
The Secret that the entrepreneur needs to know, is known by every successful entrepreneur. If this secret is not understood, 85% of all new businesses will fail in their first year.
The reason many businesses fail is not because of the idea or because the entrepreneur did not have business savy, but rather the simple secret to success was being overlooked, misunderstood, or ignored.
If you give yourself a moment to think about it, you will find that these simple components are well known, and all the successful businesses utilize them...
Well, think about it...
OK, what does Microsoft, Walmart, Fila, McDonalds, or Dell have in common with the successful entrepreneur, their secret is in the way they operate and market their businesses... their system!
Any business and every business should be following some kind of system; if you do not have a system to startup, run, manage and teach your business to your partners, employees, associates, etc.
Then you might as well get some gasoline, put it in a barrel along with your money, strike a match and let it all burn, you will save yourself lots of time.
So where do you find a system that works?
Well, there are many businesses that will be somewhat like the one you are considering. What you will want to do is study these businesses, find the similarities, then go forth and develop your business plan following their success patterns.
In your research find out how long their run-up period was before they began to turn a profit because you want to ensure you have enough capital to get the ball rolling. Traditional business can take three to five years to turn their first dollar of profit.
Network Marketing companies also have great systems, just like franchises or well run companies, and they can be much less expensive to research, as getting started in them is typically inexpensive and the good ones get results.
The system they use is readily available to their associates and many successful business owners have learned how to start and run a successful business using network marketing as a training ground.
As a business person, the right network marketing company may be a great training ground for developing your system and possibly a way for you to raise your capital. This way you can ensure that you will make it through your ramp-up stage in the business you one day aspire to own.
The Secret that the entrepreneur needs to know, is known by every successful entrepreneur. If this secret is not understood, 85% of all new businesses will fail in their first year.
The reason many businesses fail is not because of the idea or because the entrepreneur did not have business savy, but rather the simple secret to success was being overlooked, misunderstood, or ignored.
If you give yourself a moment to think about it, you will find that these simple components are well known, and all the successful businesses utilize them...
Well, think about it...
OK, what does Microsoft, Walmart, Fila, McDonalds, or Dell have in common with the successful entrepreneur, their secret is in the way they operate and market their businesses... their system!
Any business and every business should be following some kind of system; if you do not have a system to startup, run, manage and teach your business to your partners, employees, associates, etc.
Then you might as well get some gasoline, put it in a barrel along with your money, strike a match and let it all burn, you will save yourself lots of time.
So where do you find a system that works?
Well, there are many businesses that will be somewhat like the one you are considering. What you will want to do is study these businesses, find the similarities, then go forth and develop your business plan following their success patterns.
In your research find out how long their run-up period was before they began to turn a profit because you want to ensure you have enough capital to get the ball rolling. Traditional business can take three to five years to turn their first dollar of profit.
Network Marketing companies also have great systems, just like franchises or well run companies, and they can be much less expensive to research, as getting started in them is typically inexpensive and the good ones get results.
The system they use is readily available to their associates and many successful business owners have learned how to start and run a successful business using network marketing as a training ground.
As a business person, the right network marketing company may be a great training ground for developing your system and possibly a way for you to raise your capital. This way you can ensure that you will make it through your ramp-up stage in the business you one day aspire to own.
Time to Kill the Cold
By Stephen Beaumont
(Before I begin, my apologies to readers in the southern hemisphere, who are just entering their winter season as we northerners rev up for summer. What can I say? I write from experience, and I live in Toronto ...)
Okay, it's May and temperatures are warming up. Which means that for the next five months or so, depending on where you live, the joys of a cold beer are going to be only that much more acute.
Think about it: The sun is high, the faint breeze is but a rustle of hot air, sweat pastes your shirt to your body, and some kind soul hands you a lovely, cold glass of quenching ale or lager.
Sounds good, doesn't it?
But like all good things, cold in beer can be taken too far, and is on an astonishingly regular basis in bars and restaurants across the United States and Canada. To wit:
- Although it's yet to reach such epidemic proportions in Canada, it's almost impossible in the United States these days to be served a beer in a non-frosted glass.
Even at many better beer establishments, I have to specifically request a room temperature glass and occasionally wait while the bartender tries to track one down;
- Companies like Molson-Coors have taken cold beer to idiotic extremes, inventing such inane "innovations" as the draught tap that pours beer as a tongue-numbing sub-freezing temperature;
- Higher alcohol ales, which should optimally be delivered to the customer at cellar temperature, are regularly served as cold as are the mass-market lagers stored in the fridge beside them.
And so on. The problem with all this, of course, is that extreme cold kills the taste of beer. And if you're drinking for enjoyment, rather than for alcohol intake alone, it stands to figure that you'll want to be able to actually taste what it is you're paying good money for.
This can be accomplished as cool temperatures, but as any fan of flavourful beer will know, the colder the beer becomes, the harder it is to taste.
Inappropriate serving temperature is hardly a problem that's unique to beer - red wine is as regularly served too warm as white wine is too cold - but it is one which plagues the beer aficionado perhaps more than the oenophile or the whisky connoisseur. And damn it, it's time we put a stop to it!
(Again, a quick word to readers in "the other" hemisphere, specifically my Australian friends: I have not yet visited your country, but I have been told that this epidemic of coldness in beer is as bad or worse Down Under as it is in these parts. So I call upon you, too, to step up and do your part for reasonably chilled beer!)
Next time you're served a beer in a glass that has ice clinging to its side, send it back! When you're offered a frigid bottle or glass of Belgian abbey-style or similar ale, do something outrageous like asking the server to pop it in the microwave for thirty seconds.
(It won't hurt the beer, and is a ridiculous request, but it's sure to get your point across.) And if you're drinking with a friend who won't give up the frosted glass, buy them a pint in a room temperature glass and see what they think about actually being able to taste their beer for a change.
Depending on what brand they're drinking, you may not only make a point about the effect of ice-cold temperatures on beer, you may also win over a convert to more flavourful ale and lager.
(Before I begin, my apologies to readers in the southern hemisphere, who are just entering their winter season as we northerners rev up for summer. What can I say? I write from experience, and I live in Toronto ...)
Okay, it's May and temperatures are warming up. Which means that for the next five months or so, depending on where you live, the joys of a cold beer are going to be only that much more acute.
Think about it: The sun is high, the faint breeze is but a rustle of hot air, sweat pastes your shirt to your body, and some kind soul hands you a lovely, cold glass of quenching ale or lager.
Sounds good, doesn't it?
But like all good things, cold in beer can be taken too far, and is on an astonishingly regular basis in bars and restaurants across the United States and Canada. To wit:
- Although it's yet to reach such epidemic proportions in Canada, it's almost impossible in the United States these days to be served a beer in a non-frosted glass.
Even at many better beer establishments, I have to specifically request a room temperature glass and occasionally wait while the bartender tries to track one down;
- Companies like Molson-Coors have taken cold beer to idiotic extremes, inventing such inane "innovations" as the draught tap that pours beer as a tongue-numbing sub-freezing temperature;
- Higher alcohol ales, which should optimally be delivered to the customer at cellar temperature, are regularly served as cold as are the mass-market lagers stored in the fridge beside them.
And so on. The problem with all this, of course, is that extreme cold kills the taste of beer. And if you're drinking for enjoyment, rather than for alcohol intake alone, it stands to figure that you'll want to be able to actually taste what it is you're paying good money for.
This can be accomplished as cool temperatures, but as any fan of flavourful beer will know, the colder the beer becomes, the harder it is to taste.
Inappropriate serving temperature is hardly a problem that's unique to beer - red wine is as regularly served too warm as white wine is too cold - but it is one which plagues the beer aficionado perhaps more than the oenophile or the whisky connoisseur. And damn it, it's time we put a stop to it!
(Again, a quick word to readers in "the other" hemisphere, specifically my Australian friends: I have not yet visited your country, but I have been told that this epidemic of coldness in beer is as bad or worse Down Under as it is in these parts. So I call upon you, too, to step up and do your part for reasonably chilled beer!)
Next time you're served a beer in a glass that has ice clinging to its side, send it back! When you're offered a frigid bottle or glass of Belgian abbey-style or similar ale, do something outrageous like asking the server to pop it in the microwave for thirty seconds.
(It won't hurt the beer, and is a ridiculous request, but it's sure to get your point across.) And if you're drinking with a friend who won't give up the frosted glass, buy them a pint in a room temperature glass and see what they think about actually being able to taste their beer for a change.
Depending on what brand they're drinking, you may not only make a point about the effect of ice-cold temperatures on beer, you may also win over a convert to more flavourful ale and lager.
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Obstacles To Change
From LifeSkill Institute, Inc
The main obstacle to change is fear. What is fear?
(F) False (E) Evidence (A) Appearing (R) Real.
Three main fears keep people from making the changes that are necessary to improve their lives:
1. The fear of change.
2. The fear of criticism.
3. The fear of failure.
Some people fear change itself. They may say they want to change certain aspects of their life, but at the same time, they’re doing everything possible to keep their situation exactly the way it is right then.
This fear of change sometimes manifests as a fear of the unknown. One of the pitfalls of being successful but unfulfilled is that it is easy to become complacent and satisfied with what you have accomplished.
When this happens, you become fearful of making changes because you’re not sure how it’s all going to work out.You overcome the fear of change by having total faith that you can realize the outcomes desired in your new life.
Know that your father, the God Head, is rich and powerful, and eager to bestow all good things unto you. The fear of criticism robs you of your initiative and destroys your imagination. It is fatal to your personal achievement, and encourages the development of inferiority complexes.
When you fear the criticism of others, your desire for change is neutralized, and you remain stuck in the very condition you want to change. To overcome the fear of criticism, you must realize that all criticism is not harmful.
Consider the source of the criticism. Is it coming from someone who has already accomplished what you are trying to do, or who is otherwise successful and fulfilled in their own endeavors? Or is the criticism coming from someone who is unsuccessful in whatever they attempt?
Is the criticism motivated by true care and concern, or is it motivated by jealousy and feelings of inferiority? When criticism is constructive and comes from someone you respect, pay attention to what they are saying, and intelligently analyze their statements.
Make the required adjustments and continue making the changes desired in your life. If the criticism comes from someone you do not respect, tune them out and continue with your program. If you search throughout recorded history, you will never find a statue erected to a critic.
Statues are erected for the doers, those who take on the challenge of change victoriously, and go on to do great things in the world. Overcome the fear of criticism by refusing to worry about what other people think, say, or do.
When people criticize you, it’s a good bet that you’re doing something right. Those who are qualified to give constructive criticism will find a way to do so which makes you feel empowered. The fear of failure keeps you from trying.
Fear of failure often manifests as the habit of procrastination. This way, you can talk about the better life you desire and know the changes in your thinking that are necessary to bring this better life about. Yet, you never seem to get started making those changes.
It’s either too late, too early, or just not the right time to get started. The fear of failure makes you find rational excuses for not trying, and understandable excuses for quitting—often just a step away from victory.
To overcome the fear of failure, realize that to fail means you’re trying. Failure is just a dress rehearsal for success. Anyone who has not failed at anything,has probably never succeeded at anything either.
Your attitude toward failure determines your aptitude for success. An excellent example of one’s attitude toward failure can be found in the life of Thomas Edison. Shortly before inventing the light bulb, Thomas Edison was being interviewed by a young reporter.
The reporter asked Mr. Edison why hadn’t he given up on this light bulb idea, since he had failed on over 3,000 attempts to make the light bulb work. Mr. Edison looked at the reporter and said “Failed? I have never failed.
What I have done is successfully identify 3,000 ways that will not work.” Recognize that you can change your condition by changing your thinking: about yourself, about your condition, and about the people with whom you associate.
The key to experiencing a better life lies is your ability to fully and completely describe the vision of the life you wish to experience, and of the person you would like to become.
The main obstacle to change is fear. What is fear?
(F) False (E) Evidence (A) Appearing (R) Real.
Three main fears keep people from making the changes that are necessary to improve their lives:
1. The fear of change.
2. The fear of criticism.
3. The fear of failure.
Some people fear change itself. They may say they want to change certain aspects of their life, but at the same time, they’re doing everything possible to keep their situation exactly the way it is right then.
This fear of change sometimes manifests as a fear of the unknown. One of the pitfalls of being successful but unfulfilled is that it is easy to become complacent and satisfied with what you have accomplished.
When this happens, you become fearful of making changes because you’re not sure how it’s all going to work out.You overcome the fear of change by having total faith that you can realize the outcomes desired in your new life.
Know that your father, the God Head, is rich and powerful, and eager to bestow all good things unto you. The fear of criticism robs you of your initiative and destroys your imagination. It is fatal to your personal achievement, and encourages the development of inferiority complexes.
When you fear the criticism of others, your desire for change is neutralized, and you remain stuck in the very condition you want to change. To overcome the fear of criticism, you must realize that all criticism is not harmful.
Consider the source of the criticism. Is it coming from someone who has already accomplished what you are trying to do, or who is otherwise successful and fulfilled in their own endeavors? Or is the criticism coming from someone who is unsuccessful in whatever they attempt?
Is the criticism motivated by true care and concern, or is it motivated by jealousy and feelings of inferiority? When criticism is constructive and comes from someone you respect, pay attention to what they are saying, and intelligently analyze their statements.
Make the required adjustments and continue making the changes desired in your life. If the criticism comes from someone you do not respect, tune them out and continue with your program. If you search throughout recorded history, you will never find a statue erected to a critic.
Statues are erected for the doers, those who take on the challenge of change victoriously, and go on to do great things in the world. Overcome the fear of criticism by refusing to worry about what other people think, say, or do.
When people criticize you, it’s a good bet that you’re doing something right. Those who are qualified to give constructive criticism will find a way to do so which makes you feel empowered. The fear of failure keeps you from trying.
Fear of failure often manifests as the habit of procrastination. This way, you can talk about the better life you desire and know the changes in your thinking that are necessary to bring this better life about. Yet, you never seem to get started making those changes.
It’s either too late, too early, or just not the right time to get started. The fear of failure makes you find rational excuses for not trying, and understandable excuses for quitting—often just a step away from victory.
To overcome the fear of failure, realize that to fail means you’re trying. Failure is just a dress rehearsal for success. Anyone who has not failed at anything,has probably never succeeded at anything either.
Your attitude toward failure determines your aptitude for success. An excellent example of one’s attitude toward failure can be found in the life of Thomas Edison. Shortly before inventing the light bulb, Thomas Edison was being interviewed by a young reporter.
The reporter asked Mr. Edison why hadn’t he given up on this light bulb idea, since he had failed on over 3,000 attempts to make the light bulb work. Mr. Edison looked at the reporter and said “Failed? I have never failed.
What I have done is successfully identify 3,000 ways that will not work.” Recognize that you can change your condition by changing your thinking: about yourself, about your condition, and about the people with whom you associate.
The key to experiencing a better life lies is your ability to fully and completely describe the vision of the life you wish to experience, and of the person you would like to become.
Keeping Your Laptop Safe
By: James Lowery
Statistics show that a laptop computer is stolen every 53 seconds in the USA, and in San Francisco, the Laptop is the most common item stolen from a person.
Your laptop computer can contain your entire life, from important work through to downloaded music, personal photos, and even confidential bank and credit details.
With this in mind, of all the items you carry with you on a daily basis, your lap top computer should be the one that you take most care of. There are a few golden rules to follow when it comes to keeping both your computer and the information contained in it safe.
Some of them are simple, and easy to follow, others require a little more discipline to keep on top of, but bearing in mind the value of both the computer and its contents, it is essential to take its security seriously.
The reason why laptop computers are so popular with thieves is exactly the same as why they are popular with regular people. They are convenient, stylish, and portable. We like them because they allow us to work on the go, thieves like them because they can pick them up and go before we notice.
The first rule to follow is that if you do not need your laptop, leave it at home or at work. Why run the risk of getting it stolen by having it with you if you don't need to? Whenever you have your laptop with you in a public place, whether you are working or not, do not let it out of your sight.
Do not leave it at the table in a restaurant when you go to the bathroom, and if you can possibly avoid it, carry it with you at all times. You should also avoid leaving it on show in your car. If you must leave it in the vehicle, make sure you lock it in the trunk rather than leaving it on display.
Because the data held on your laptop computer can as valuable to a thief as the computer itself, you should take measures to protect your files. Passwords might make accessing documents inconvenient, but they could make the difference between a thief getting access to your bank account or not.
One last important thing is to always back up your data regularly. If the worst happens, and your computer is stolen, don't risk losing months of work just because of one scumbag.
Copy essential information onto a desktop machine, or a pen drive to ensure that if you lose your laptop, you can get up to date quickly rather than losing time collating information that you have lost.
James writes for ADPmods. You can find more information at www.adpmods.com .
Statistics show that a laptop computer is stolen every 53 seconds in the USA, and in San Francisco, the Laptop is the most common item stolen from a person.
Your laptop computer can contain your entire life, from important work through to downloaded music, personal photos, and even confidential bank and credit details.
With this in mind, of all the items you carry with you on a daily basis, your lap top computer should be the one that you take most care of. There are a few golden rules to follow when it comes to keeping both your computer and the information contained in it safe.
Some of them are simple, and easy to follow, others require a little more discipline to keep on top of, but bearing in mind the value of both the computer and its contents, it is essential to take its security seriously.
The reason why laptop computers are so popular with thieves is exactly the same as why they are popular with regular people. They are convenient, stylish, and portable. We like them because they allow us to work on the go, thieves like them because they can pick them up and go before we notice.
The first rule to follow is that if you do not need your laptop, leave it at home or at work. Why run the risk of getting it stolen by having it with you if you don't need to? Whenever you have your laptop with you in a public place, whether you are working or not, do not let it out of your sight.
Do not leave it at the table in a restaurant when you go to the bathroom, and if you can possibly avoid it, carry it with you at all times. You should also avoid leaving it on show in your car. If you must leave it in the vehicle, make sure you lock it in the trunk rather than leaving it on display.
Because the data held on your laptop computer can as valuable to a thief as the computer itself, you should take measures to protect your files. Passwords might make accessing documents inconvenient, but they could make the difference between a thief getting access to your bank account or not.
One last important thing is to always back up your data regularly. If the worst happens, and your computer is stolen, don't risk losing months of work just because of one scumbag.
Copy essential information onto a desktop machine, or a pen drive to ensure that if you lose your laptop, you can get up to date quickly rather than losing time collating information that you have lost.
James writes for ADPmods. You can find more information at www.adpmods.com .
Attract Success Into Your Life By Knowing And Applying These Principals Now
By Greg Nicholls
Anybody can have more money, more time and a better lifestyle and have them easily and effortlessly attracted to them if they practice the determining factors of success. Yes anybody, even you.
The things I am about to share with you will be part of your life long journey to understanding how you can attract success into your life and how you will always be able to build more success on top of existing success.
To get right into it, most importantly, living your life in integrity will act as the guiding light in your life, if you are always pointing your life towards integrity, you are on the path.
You not only have to be in integrity with other people, most importantly, you must be in integrity with yourself.
Next, having absolute belief that you can have success in your life, is "knowing you will succeed" because you have simply made the decision to have success.
You will be able to relax and allow the flow of success into your life by knowing that you do not have to be in control of your circumstances in order to get to your desired success.
Your circumstances are simply attracted to you by what it is that you are focusing on.
Circumstances are like forks in the road, they come into your life to re-direct you towards what it is that you are giving thought to. Be aware that you will have good circumstances if you are focusing on good outcomes and you will have bad circumstances if you focus on bad outcomes.
Sometimes we mistake good circumstances for bad circumstances; losing a job, or having some kind of unhappy moment in your life can actually be an important componet in your set of circumstances, maybe to allow you to reflect on just how important your desire for change really is.
These times can also be described as breakthroughs, or defining moments in your life when your conviction to attain your desired outcome is tested to the greatest extreme. When you pass the test, you get to move on to the next part of your journey.
This is widely known as the Law Of Attraction.
Understanding the Law Of Attraction, is just as simple as a thinking of a magnet, if you want the magnet to pick up some desired metal, you have to point it at the metal you wish to attract to it.
If you point it at some junky metal that you do not want, like it or not, you will attract the junky metal.
Learn from my words here that you will get what you focus on and everything you attract into your life is for a reason (even you reading this article right now), it is up to you to take the lesson from every circumstance, good or bad.
If the circumstances are based on a great outcome, there is a lesson. Circumstances that are based on an undesired outcome can be warning signs to tell you to focus on what you do want.
So to attract success into your life, you must become the successful person that you are going to be in your mind first, focus on what that will be like as if it is already happening, then you will become successful.
To begin, imagine that you just made in one month what it used to take you a year to make. How do you feel?
There is a price to pay for success, it is called persistence.
You have to become clear about your desired outcome, focus on it daily and keep going towards it until you attain it. You have to have crossed the finish line in your mind before the starting gun goes off and you begin the race.
When you have made the decision to "have it all", you focus on it with clarity, maintain the absolute belief that you will have it and you decide to always move towards the direction of integrity, then you are sure to attract success into your life easily and effortlessly, no matter what it is.
Anybody can have more money, more time and a better lifestyle and have them easily and effortlessly attracted to them if they practice the determining factors of success. Yes anybody, even you.
The things I am about to share with you will be part of your life long journey to understanding how you can attract success into your life and how you will always be able to build more success on top of existing success.
To get right into it, most importantly, living your life in integrity will act as the guiding light in your life, if you are always pointing your life towards integrity, you are on the path.
You not only have to be in integrity with other people, most importantly, you must be in integrity with yourself.
Next, having absolute belief that you can have success in your life, is "knowing you will succeed" because you have simply made the decision to have success.
You will be able to relax and allow the flow of success into your life by knowing that you do not have to be in control of your circumstances in order to get to your desired success.
Your circumstances are simply attracted to you by what it is that you are focusing on.
Circumstances are like forks in the road, they come into your life to re-direct you towards what it is that you are giving thought to. Be aware that you will have good circumstances if you are focusing on good outcomes and you will have bad circumstances if you focus on bad outcomes.
Sometimes we mistake good circumstances for bad circumstances; losing a job, or having some kind of unhappy moment in your life can actually be an important componet in your set of circumstances, maybe to allow you to reflect on just how important your desire for change really is.
These times can also be described as breakthroughs, or defining moments in your life when your conviction to attain your desired outcome is tested to the greatest extreme. When you pass the test, you get to move on to the next part of your journey.
This is widely known as the Law Of Attraction.
Understanding the Law Of Attraction, is just as simple as a thinking of a magnet, if you want the magnet to pick up some desired metal, you have to point it at the metal you wish to attract to it.
If you point it at some junky metal that you do not want, like it or not, you will attract the junky metal.
Learn from my words here that you will get what you focus on and everything you attract into your life is for a reason (even you reading this article right now), it is up to you to take the lesson from every circumstance, good or bad.
If the circumstances are based on a great outcome, there is a lesson. Circumstances that are based on an undesired outcome can be warning signs to tell you to focus on what you do want.
So to attract success into your life, you must become the successful person that you are going to be in your mind first, focus on what that will be like as if it is already happening, then you will become successful.
To begin, imagine that you just made in one month what it used to take you a year to make. How do you feel?
There is a price to pay for success, it is called persistence.
You have to become clear about your desired outcome, focus on it daily and keep going towards it until you attain it. You have to have crossed the finish line in your mind before the starting gun goes off and you begin the race.
When you have made the decision to "have it all", you focus on it with clarity, maintain the absolute belief that you will have it and you decide to always move towards the direction of integrity, then you are sure to attract success into your life easily and effortlessly, no matter what it is.
Bartending - A Very Understated Position
By: Michael Russell
Looking after a bar is an occupation almost anyone (male or female, elderly or young people) can or do take up at some point in their lives.
An example of this is the young student who is working his/her way through college and often too young to even legally buy liquor themselves in a bar; but can earn an extra income serving drinks in that same bar as a bartender.
On the other side of the coin, an elderly person can turn their hands to bartending to supplement their pensions. Between these two extreme age groups there are all kinds of people who fill the position of a bartender.
In fact barmen have been likened to the 'man in the streets' (or should we say "man in the pubs) psychologist or priest. Those two additional professions come with the job.
Bartending is really one of those really ancient occupations that have been around since man first started picking up 'ladies of the night' from the very earliest forms of taverns.
However, although prostitutes are often termed as being part of a profession (or indeed part of the oldest profession), very few people ever think of bartending as a profession at all!
It is just a "fill in job" in most people's eyes.
However, when you think about it, a good bartender has to possess or master many skills such as being able to look after both stock and money in a very difficult environment to actually carry out these (kind of) tasks.
They should also be able to empathize, communicate and just listen to their patrons, often under very 'trying' circumstances. Over and above that they have to take on many other roles including checking and policing a potential customer to see if they can legally purchase liquor.
They should also be able to come up with a whole range of cocktails, drink mixes and suggestions for their patrons and be abreast of most current events so that they can 'talk to a customer' when they have to.
Then they also really should be able to judge and advise a patron when he has had enough to drink -- this requires a great deal of both persuasion and judgment if one doesn't want to offend a customer!
For a job most people just "stumble into" or simply take up as a 'short term filler' in their lives you could really say that bartending is really one of the most 'underestimated kind of work' you can ever undertake.
There are 'bartending Schools' designed to give one the basic training required to do the job. However, in this area many of these setups are nothing more than moneymaking systems designed to make money for the owners of the schools.
Of course there are several schools that offer very good training indeed.
In fact, if there was a overall better quality of bartending in the world today then that could lead to less alcohol abuse.
However, introducing 'bartending schools' all over the world is not the only answer to getting us better bartenders. Many would say there just isn't the money in the business to attract the kind of person that is really needed to make a good bar keeper.
This really is not true. Many very good bartenders can demand a very good wage because of the 'customers' they can bring to the establishment they work at. However, these kinds of bartenders are very seldom seen in that role -- they normally go on to 'move-up' as owners of bars or partners in those kinds of businesses.
We have to see bartending not just as a job, but a career for someone. After all, it does have all the possibilities bundled up in it to give some people a very satisfying way of life.
Looking after a bar is an occupation almost anyone (male or female, elderly or young people) can or do take up at some point in their lives.
An example of this is the young student who is working his/her way through college and often too young to even legally buy liquor themselves in a bar; but can earn an extra income serving drinks in that same bar as a bartender.
On the other side of the coin, an elderly person can turn their hands to bartending to supplement their pensions. Between these two extreme age groups there are all kinds of people who fill the position of a bartender.
In fact barmen have been likened to the 'man in the streets' (or should we say "man in the pubs) psychologist or priest. Those two additional professions come with the job.
Bartending is really one of those really ancient occupations that have been around since man first started picking up 'ladies of the night' from the very earliest forms of taverns.
However, although prostitutes are often termed as being part of a profession (or indeed part of the oldest profession), very few people ever think of bartending as a profession at all!
It is just a "fill in job" in most people's eyes.
However, when you think about it, a good bartender has to possess or master many skills such as being able to look after both stock and money in a very difficult environment to actually carry out these (kind of) tasks.
They should also be able to empathize, communicate and just listen to their patrons, often under very 'trying' circumstances. Over and above that they have to take on many other roles including checking and policing a potential customer to see if they can legally purchase liquor.
They should also be able to come up with a whole range of cocktails, drink mixes and suggestions for their patrons and be abreast of most current events so that they can 'talk to a customer' when they have to.
Then they also really should be able to judge and advise a patron when he has had enough to drink -- this requires a great deal of both persuasion and judgment if one doesn't want to offend a customer!
For a job most people just "stumble into" or simply take up as a 'short term filler' in their lives you could really say that bartending is really one of the most 'underestimated kind of work' you can ever undertake.
There are 'bartending Schools' designed to give one the basic training required to do the job. However, in this area many of these setups are nothing more than moneymaking systems designed to make money for the owners of the schools.
Of course there are several schools that offer very good training indeed.
In fact, if there was a overall better quality of bartending in the world today then that could lead to less alcohol abuse.
However, introducing 'bartending schools' all over the world is not the only answer to getting us better bartenders. Many would say there just isn't the money in the business to attract the kind of person that is really needed to make a good bar keeper.
This really is not true. Many very good bartenders can demand a very good wage because of the 'customers' they can bring to the establishment they work at. However, these kinds of bartenders are very seldom seen in that role -- they normally go on to 'move-up' as owners of bars or partners in those kinds of businesses.
We have to see bartending not just as a job, but a career for someone. After all, it does have all the possibilities bundled up in it to give some people a very satisfying way of life.
Monday, May 21, 2007
A Positive Attitude Will Help Your Business
By: Ryan Even
Developing a positive attitude will help you grow your business and achieve success. Everyone has times when things in their business do not go as planned. If you have a positive attitude, you will be able to pass those obstacles and get back on track.
When you have a positive attitude, you will feel more confident in yourself and your business abilities. You will also notice that finding clients may become an easier task. When you display a positive attitude, others will react to that.
They will want to hire you and recommend you to others. A positive attitude can help other areas of your life as well, including your health. People who are generally optimistic have less heart disease.
The following are some tips to help you develop a more positive attitude:-
Spend Time with Positive People and Avoid Negative People
Attitudes are contagious. When you spend time with positive people, you will feel more positive. When you talk to a positive person, you will find yourself in a more positive place.
On the other hand, bad attitudes are contagious, too. You have probably heard the saying “misery loves company”. When you are around people that are constantly complaining, you will find things to complain about as well.
Little things that you would normally shrug off will seem to bring your whole day down. You will feel drained of energy.
Once you lose your energy and motivation, it can be difficult to get back into the swing of things. This can have negative implications on your business. Going through periods of negativity will be similar to spinning your wheels.
Be Nice To Others
Being nice to others will make you feel good about yourself and put a positive spin on your day. This doesn’t mean that you should let others take advantage of you.
Be Proactive
When you notice a problem coming up, do not wait until the last minute to solve it. Be proactive and think of a solution before the problem becomes serious. By keeping a step ahead of potential problems, you will be able to avoid setbacks.
Stay Organized & Practice Time Management
When you are organized you will be more efficient and able to get more things done. You will know what you want to accomplish each day; and will be able to spend the day working, rather than looking for your clients’ lost phone numbers or email addresses.
Consider Hiring a Coach
Many people are hiring coaches to help them achieve business success. A coach will help you decide what you want out of your business. They will help you set achievable goals and will also hold you accountable for your actions.
Ryan Even has a free blog where you can get internet marketing tips daily. Visit www.RyanEven.com now. Internet Marketing Blog
Developing a positive attitude will help you grow your business and achieve success. Everyone has times when things in their business do not go as planned. If you have a positive attitude, you will be able to pass those obstacles and get back on track.
When you have a positive attitude, you will feel more confident in yourself and your business abilities. You will also notice that finding clients may become an easier task. When you display a positive attitude, others will react to that.
They will want to hire you and recommend you to others. A positive attitude can help other areas of your life as well, including your health. People who are generally optimistic have less heart disease.
The following are some tips to help you develop a more positive attitude:-
Spend Time with Positive People and Avoid Negative People
Attitudes are contagious. When you spend time with positive people, you will feel more positive. When you talk to a positive person, you will find yourself in a more positive place.
On the other hand, bad attitudes are contagious, too. You have probably heard the saying “misery loves company”. When you are around people that are constantly complaining, you will find things to complain about as well.
Little things that you would normally shrug off will seem to bring your whole day down. You will feel drained of energy.
Once you lose your energy and motivation, it can be difficult to get back into the swing of things. This can have negative implications on your business. Going through periods of negativity will be similar to spinning your wheels.
Be Nice To Others
Being nice to others will make you feel good about yourself and put a positive spin on your day. This doesn’t mean that you should let others take advantage of you.
Be Proactive
When you notice a problem coming up, do not wait until the last minute to solve it. Be proactive and think of a solution before the problem becomes serious. By keeping a step ahead of potential problems, you will be able to avoid setbacks.
Stay Organized & Practice Time Management
When you are organized you will be more efficient and able to get more things done. You will know what you want to accomplish each day; and will be able to spend the day working, rather than looking for your clients’ lost phone numbers or email addresses.
Consider Hiring a Coach
Many people are hiring coaches to help them achieve business success. A coach will help you decide what you want out of your business. They will help you set achievable goals and will also hold you accountable for your actions.
Ryan Even has a free blog where you can get internet marketing tips daily. Visit www.RyanEven.com now. Internet Marketing Blog
How You Can Eliminate Money Concerns
By Greg Nicholls
Imagine you are looking at a bathtub, it is half full of water and there is no plug to keep the water in the tub. Your job is to ensure that you always have water in it.
Now replace the water with money and the drain is your monthly expenses.
As I see it, you have two choices; you can either try to plug the drain as best you can, or you can turn on the tap.
Understand the drain will be bigger than you can block completely as you can't stop all the water from leaving because after all, you will have to use some water (money) to live.
What you do have great control over though is the tap.
If your tap right now is just dripping out just as much water as needs to produce each month to keep the water in the tub; (or maybe you have a little less than you need each month) you either have to do a better job of plugging the drain or you have to increase the flow from your tap.
I think you will agree it would be a lot less effort if you just turned on the tap and a lot less stress too.
Now turn on the tap so that you are adding more water to the tub than you are draining out, to the point that you are overflowing, now your focus can be on removing obstructions from your drain and allow the money to flow.
There are an endless number of things you could do in this situation. You will never have to worry again about having enough water and now you can focus on things like gifts, holidays, donations and more.
So what can you do to turn on the tap?
Well, you can do a whole bunch of things and the good news it is totally up to you to choose. The key it to make a choice, even if it is not the right choice, make a choice and work to make the choice right.
If you make the wrong choice, then make another choice and follow through with it. If you allow yourself to make many choices, you will eventually make the right one and it will pay huge dividends to you.
You could get a better job, maybe one with less commute. You could invest your money and collect on the profits.
You could start your own business and eliminate your boss as the middle man who collects most of the profit that you make for the company that employs you. You can do anything.
I can assure you that turning on the tap is not as hard to do as you think, if you do not have any ideas on how to do any of the above things, there are many resources available to you.
Seek out an employment advisor, a financial advisor, or best of all, get a business mentor. There are many people that make a living out of making your life better; it is up to you to find them.
You life will be the same next year unless you do something about it. The fear of change, the thought of your job being secure, the stories you tell yourself as to why not are all a bunch of stories you have told yourself and have bought into.
People are changing parts of their lives every day, more often for the better.
There is no security in any job any more, how many jobs have you had in your life, if it is more than 5, guess what, that number will go up, if you have only ever had one job, can you really count on the pension plan to carry you through, if there is one?
Starting your own business is risky too, but at least you are the one in control, not some boss, shareholders or a cost reduction committee. You are the one.
Regardless, there are no guarantees, but if you decide to turn on the tap, anything can happen and if you focus on great results, great things will happen.
Imagine you are looking at a bathtub, it is half full of water and there is no plug to keep the water in the tub. Your job is to ensure that you always have water in it.
Now replace the water with money and the drain is your monthly expenses.
As I see it, you have two choices; you can either try to plug the drain as best you can, or you can turn on the tap.
Understand the drain will be bigger than you can block completely as you can't stop all the water from leaving because after all, you will have to use some water (money) to live.
What you do have great control over though is the tap.
If your tap right now is just dripping out just as much water as needs to produce each month to keep the water in the tub; (or maybe you have a little less than you need each month) you either have to do a better job of plugging the drain or you have to increase the flow from your tap.
I think you will agree it would be a lot less effort if you just turned on the tap and a lot less stress too.
Now turn on the tap so that you are adding more water to the tub than you are draining out, to the point that you are overflowing, now your focus can be on removing obstructions from your drain and allow the money to flow.
There are an endless number of things you could do in this situation. You will never have to worry again about having enough water and now you can focus on things like gifts, holidays, donations and more.
So what can you do to turn on the tap?
Well, you can do a whole bunch of things and the good news it is totally up to you to choose. The key it to make a choice, even if it is not the right choice, make a choice and work to make the choice right.
If you make the wrong choice, then make another choice and follow through with it. If you allow yourself to make many choices, you will eventually make the right one and it will pay huge dividends to you.
You could get a better job, maybe one with less commute. You could invest your money and collect on the profits.
You could start your own business and eliminate your boss as the middle man who collects most of the profit that you make for the company that employs you. You can do anything.
I can assure you that turning on the tap is not as hard to do as you think, if you do not have any ideas on how to do any of the above things, there are many resources available to you.
Seek out an employment advisor, a financial advisor, or best of all, get a business mentor. There are many people that make a living out of making your life better; it is up to you to find them.
You life will be the same next year unless you do something about it. The fear of change, the thought of your job being secure, the stories you tell yourself as to why not are all a bunch of stories you have told yourself and have bought into.
People are changing parts of their lives every day, more often for the better.
There is no security in any job any more, how many jobs have you had in your life, if it is more than 5, guess what, that number will go up, if you have only ever had one job, can you really count on the pension plan to carry you through, if there is one?
Starting your own business is risky too, but at least you are the one in control, not some boss, shareholders or a cost reduction committee. You are the one.
Regardless, there are no guarantees, but if you decide to turn on the tap, anything can happen and if you focus on great results, great things will happen.
Beaujolais well-suited to bridge gap from classic French to fruity New World wines
By Mary Ewing-Mulligan and Ed McCarthy
Much has been written about the plight of French wines in the United States and United Kingdom—how so many of today’s wine drinkers favor the taste of New World wines and no longer relate to the dryer, leaner, less-fruity style of wine that is so common in France.
What does surprise and disappoint us, however, is that the wine trade has not turned to Beaujolais as a middle ground. Of all the red wines of France, Beaujolais is perhaps the most suited to modern diners’ thirst for fruity, flavorful wines.
Among French wines it is something of an anomaly because it has exuberant fruitiness and high flavor intensity, and it does not give the impression of being particularly dry.
These are all characteristics of wines beloved by fans of Australian Shirazes and Californian Pinot Noirs. The characteristics also typify most Cabernets from California retailing for about $12 or less per bottle.
Wholesale case price: Approximately $120
Beaujolais goes by many names. Besides basic, region-wide Beaujolais wines and the more substantial Beaujolais-Villages wines, which come from a more limited production zone in the northern part of the region, the Beaujolais region also produces cru wines named only for their very specific vineyard areas.
The current vintage for many of these wines is 2005, which was a vintage of relatively small crop size due to hail in the spring.
Much has been written about the plight of French wines in the United States and United Kingdom—how so many of today’s wine drinkers favor the taste of New World wines and no longer relate to the dryer, leaner, less-fruity style of wine that is so common in France.
What does surprise and disappoint us, however, is that the wine trade has not turned to Beaujolais as a middle ground. Of all the red wines of France, Beaujolais is perhaps the most suited to modern diners’ thirst for fruity, flavorful wines.
Among French wines it is something of an anomaly because it has exuberant fruitiness and high flavor intensity, and it does not give the impression of being particularly dry.
These are all characteristics of wines beloved by fans of Australian Shirazes and Californian Pinot Noirs. The characteristics also typify most Cabernets from California retailing for about $12 or less per bottle.
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WINE OF THE WEEK
2006 Georges Duboeuf “Flower Label” Fleurie
This is a pretty, rather than a powerful, Beaujolais cru wine that is particularly easy to like. It has aromas of flowers and red fruits and in the mouth is smooth and round with tannin that is very fine-grained and unobtrusive. It’s still young and should improve over the next year.
This is a pretty, rather than a powerful, Beaujolais cru wine that is particularly easy to like. It has aromas of flowers and red fruits and in the mouth is smooth and round with tannin that is very fine-grained and unobtrusive. It’s still young and should improve over the next year.
Wholesale case price: Approximately $120
-------------------
One of the big differences between Beaujolais wines and other popular wines is the lack of a grape name on Beaujolais labels. If Beaujolais were to be labeled varietally, many consumers would not recognize the grape name, Gamay.
The Gamay grape is one of those niche varieties that is ideally suited to its native region, Beaujolais and southern Burgundy, but has made no inroads elsewhere.
Beaujolais goes by many names. Besides basic, region-wide Beaujolais wines and the more substantial Beaujolais-Villages wines, which come from a more limited production zone in the northern part of the region, the Beaujolais region also produces cru wines named only for their very specific vineyard areas.
These crus have the fruity flavors that consumers crave, but to a slightly less degree than the most basic Beaujolais, and they do not carry the commercial image of Beaujolais Nouveau.
Each of the 10 cru Beaujolais wines—Saint Amour, Julienas, Chenas, Moulin-a-Vent, Fleurie, Chiroubles, Morgon, Regnié, Brouilly and Côte de Brouilly—has its own distinct personality within the larger context of fruity, flavorful Gamay.
The four fullest and most substantial wines are Moulin-a-Vent, Chenas, Julienas and Morgon. The lightest of the ten cru wines are generally those from Brouilly, Regnié and Chiroubles.
The remaining three wines occupy a middle ground stylistically, and St. Amour wines tend to be the lightest of this middle group.
The current vintage for many of these wines is 2005, which was a vintage of relatively small crop size due to hail in the spring.
We have found the 2006 crus to be somewhat lighter but very classic, with mineral aromas and flavors and the usual cherry, berry and floral notes. Several of the 2006 crus entered the market in April, while others are still aging at wineries.
Sunday, May 20, 2007
How to Save Thousands of Dollars on your Mortgage
By: Dan Palmer
The dream of owning a home is becoming very elusive these days. Although everyone would like to have a home that is paid for free and clear, many people are forced to assume mortgages that will be paid over 25 or 30 years into the future.
Everyone is constrained to a certain degree by their budget. Yet there is a way to pay off the existing mortgage on your home quicker and save money in the process.
Almost all mortgages have built into them an Accelerated Payment Clause. This allows the borrower to pay more than the minimum amount of the monthly mortgage payment.
To do this you simply remit more to the lender than the usual mortgage payment every month. The benefit to this is that every extra dollar paid against the mortgage will lower the outstanding balance of the mortgage.
This increases the equity in your home faster over time. Also, by lowering your outstanding balance, you will save on interest charges.
Here is a good example based on the scenario of an average family.
If you are an average family of four making $50,000 a year, let us assume that you are saving annually at the same rate as most Americans. This rate of savings as reported by our government is about 4% of your income every year.
This would mean that you are putting $2000.00 in the bank every year for future purposes. This comes out to around $167.00 a month.
Right now you are probably receiving less than 1% Annual Percentage Rate (APR) on your passbook savings.
Why not take $100.00 of this money that you would normally save and pay down the mortgage on your home ahead of time? The following example shows why this is in your best interest.
If you take out a mortgage on a house for $200,000 at a 6% fixed rate, and the contract calls for repayment in monthly installments over 30 years, your monthly mortgage payment would be $1,210.56.
If you paid an extra $100.00 dollars per month toward the amortization of your mortgage, you would add $1,200.00 to the equity in your home every year.
In this scenario, the total amount paid to buy your home over the life of the mortgage would be $435,798.89. When you add $100.00 to your mortgage payment every month you would save $46,360.13 in interest charges over the life of the mortgage. You would also be able to retire your mortgage earlier.
You would be able to trim 38 monthly payments off your repayment of the mortgage. So the mortgage would be paid off 3 years and 2 months sooner if you use this repayment method.
In short, what this strategy does is shift your money from passbook savings only ($2,000.00 per year), to paying $1,200.00 on your mortgage, and saving $800.00 directly into your bank account each year.
To sum up the benefits of using this method, the borrower in the example above saved $46,360.13 in interest on their loan, and accumulated $21,923.85 in passbook savings ( $67.00 per month X 1% APR X 322 months ).
This equals $68,283.98 in accumulated savings over 26 years and 10 months (This is the actual time it would take to pay off the original 30 year mortgage).
If the family would have put all of their money ($167.00 per month) in a passbook savings account only, they would have accumulated $54,646.35 over the same period of time.
So this family would have actually saved $13,637.63 more by using this accelerated payment method. And they would have also paid off their mortgage 3 years and 2 months earlier than normal.
This method can be used in any situation where the mortgage has an Accelerated Payment Clause built into it. It will work best if you are consistent with the amount that you pay on your mortgage every month.
Any change in the amount of monthly repayment of the mortgage will affect the amount that you will actually save.
Check with your banker to find out if your mortgage allows for Accelerated Payments. Then you can use this strategy to save a lot of money on your mortgage and own your home sooner.
The dream of owning a home is becoming very elusive these days. Although everyone would like to have a home that is paid for free and clear, many people are forced to assume mortgages that will be paid over 25 or 30 years into the future.
Everyone is constrained to a certain degree by their budget. Yet there is a way to pay off the existing mortgage on your home quicker and save money in the process.
Almost all mortgages have built into them an Accelerated Payment Clause. This allows the borrower to pay more than the minimum amount of the monthly mortgage payment.
To do this you simply remit more to the lender than the usual mortgage payment every month. The benefit to this is that every extra dollar paid against the mortgage will lower the outstanding balance of the mortgage.
This increases the equity in your home faster over time. Also, by lowering your outstanding balance, you will save on interest charges.
Here is a good example based on the scenario of an average family.
If you are an average family of four making $50,000 a year, let us assume that you are saving annually at the same rate as most Americans. This rate of savings as reported by our government is about 4% of your income every year.
This would mean that you are putting $2000.00 in the bank every year for future purposes. This comes out to around $167.00 a month.
Right now you are probably receiving less than 1% Annual Percentage Rate (APR) on your passbook savings.
Why not take $100.00 of this money that you would normally save and pay down the mortgage on your home ahead of time? The following example shows why this is in your best interest.
If you take out a mortgage on a house for $200,000 at a 6% fixed rate, and the contract calls for repayment in monthly installments over 30 years, your monthly mortgage payment would be $1,210.56.
If you paid an extra $100.00 dollars per month toward the amortization of your mortgage, you would add $1,200.00 to the equity in your home every year.
In this scenario, the total amount paid to buy your home over the life of the mortgage would be $435,798.89. When you add $100.00 to your mortgage payment every month you would save $46,360.13 in interest charges over the life of the mortgage. You would also be able to retire your mortgage earlier.
You would be able to trim 38 monthly payments off your repayment of the mortgage. So the mortgage would be paid off 3 years and 2 months sooner if you use this repayment method.
In short, what this strategy does is shift your money from passbook savings only ($2,000.00 per year), to paying $1,200.00 on your mortgage, and saving $800.00 directly into your bank account each year.
To sum up the benefits of using this method, the borrower in the example above saved $46,360.13 in interest on their loan, and accumulated $21,923.85 in passbook savings ( $67.00 per month X 1% APR X 322 months ).
This equals $68,283.98 in accumulated savings over 26 years and 10 months (This is the actual time it would take to pay off the original 30 year mortgage).
If the family would have put all of their money ($167.00 per month) in a passbook savings account only, they would have accumulated $54,646.35 over the same period of time.
So this family would have actually saved $13,637.63 more by using this accelerated payment method. And they would have also paid off their mortgage 3 years and 2 months earlier than normal.
This method can be used in any situation where the mortgage has an Accelerated Payment Clause built into it. It will work best if you are consistent with the amount that you pay on your mortgage every month.
Any change in the amount of monthly repayment of the mortgage will affect the amount that you will actually save.
Check with your banker to find out if your mortgage allows for Accelerated Payments. Then you can use this strategy to save a lot of money on your mortgage and own your home sooner.
Why February Has Only 28 Days (Unless It Is A Leap Year)
By Greg Nicholls
I have discovered that there are two answers, both answers are right, however they are completely different.
Having breakfast with the family this morning, we began to talk about birthdays (birthday season is shortly upon us) and then everyone started counting out how many days they had before their big day.
Some went to the calendar, some used their hands, then my daughter Kassidy began to demonstrate that she knew and easy way to determine the months that had 31 days from the months that did not.
Putting her hands together as two fists, she began to count the knuckles as months with 31 days and in between the knuckles for months without 31 days.
As she reached the last knuckle on her left hand, she finished with the index finger knuckle, "July," then she resumed with the index finger knuckle on her right hand, "August," then she carried on and finished out her demonstration.
At that point, (being the wise-guy) I asked her a question;
"Why does February only have 28 days?"
Now, she is 8 and I did not expect a perfect explanation, but she nailed it! As an adult, I realized that the answer that I was looking for would have involved history, going back to Julius Caesar, getting into a big, long winded explanation. Her answer was genuine, accurate and beautifully simple;
"Because it is a short month."
We all burst out laughing at how simple and yet how accurate the answer was; it was funny because she was so matter of fact.
After congratulating her on a perfect answer, we began to talk about how we (adults) tend to add so much unnecessary detail, when a simple answer is all that is really necessary.
Ever wonder how kids get to move through their day so happy and care-free, well, they are not overwhelmed with coming up with unnecessary details.
I would challenge you to start to think in simple terms too, you will attain success much faster.
Life can be simple if you allow it to be.
I have discovered that there are two answers, both answers are right, however they are completely different.
Having breakfast with the family this morning, we began to talk about birthdays (birthday season is shortly upon us) and then everyone started counting out how many days they had before their big day.
Some went to the calendar, some used their hands, then my daughter Kassidy began to demonstrate that she knew and easy way to determine the months that had 31 days from the months that did not.
Putting her hands together as two fists, she began to count the knuckles as months with 31 days and in between the knuckles for months without 31 days.
As she reached the last knuckle on her left hand, she finished with the index finger knuckle, "July," then she resumed with the index finger knuckle on her right hand, "August," then she carried on and finished out her demonstration.
At that point, (being the wise-guy) I asked her a question;
"Why does February only have 28 days?"
Now, she is 8 and I did not expect a perfect explanation, but she nailed it! As an adult, I realized that the answer that I was looking for would have involved history, going back to Julius Caesar, getting into a big, long winded explanation. Her answer was genuine, accurate and beautifully simple;
"Because it is a short month."
We all burst out laughing at how simple and yet how accurate the answer was; it was funny because she was so matter of fact.
After congratulating her on a perfect answer, we began to talk about how we (adults) tend to add so much unnecessary detail, when a simple answer is all that is really necessary.
Ever wonder how kids get to move through their day so happy and care-free, well, they are not overwhelmed with coming up with unnecessary details.
I would challenge you to start to think in simple terms too, you will attain success much faster.
Life can be simple if you allow it to be.
The Mantra Today Behind The Bar..."Fresh"
From The American Mixologist
Few people understand how to better quench thirst than Janos Wilder, celebrity chef and owner of Janos and the J Bar, two of Arizona’s most acclaimed restaurants. “Tucson has become a popular tourist and convention destination, which means that we’re surrounded by posh resorts, hotels and spas.
Guests come to our restaurants expecting to sample authentic and expertly prepared Margaritas. So we’re held to extremely high standards. I think our Margarita now exceeds expectations, but frankly it didn’t always.”
Continue reading "The Mantra Today Behind The Bar..."Fresh"
Few people understand how to better quench thirst than Janos Wilder, celebrity chef and owner of Janos and the J Bar, two of Arizona’s most acclaimed restaurants. “Tucson has become a popular tourist and convention destination, which means that we’re surrounded by posh resorts, hotels and spas.
Guests come to our restaurants expecting to sample authentic and expertly prepared Margaritas. So we’re held to extremely high standards. I think our Margarita now exceeds expectations, but frankly it didn’t always.”
Continue reading "The Mantra Today Behind The Bar..."Fresh"
Saturday, May 19, 2007
Lose Weight in 10 Easy Steps with Traditional Chinese Medicine
By: Elie Goldschmidt, L.Ac.
Every few years another weight loss drug gets thrown out because of their proven health risks. It used to be Redux and Fen-Phen. Yet, the FDA still approves new diet drugs, despite potential side effects that may be damaging to the heart.
Is there another, safer way to lose weight?The majority of people who resort to drugs to help them lose weight have previously tried dieting. Unfortunately, many studies indicate that as many as 95% of these people regain all their weight within a year!
The problem with many diets and diet drugs is that both approaches attempt to eliminate excess weight quickly by treating only the symptom. Because they don't reach the root of the problem, the results are not long lasting and may even be damaging.
It seems to be time to begin looking at the weight issue in a more holistic fashion. Let's look at weight loss through the eyes of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM).
Continue reading "Lose Weight in 10 Easy Steps with Traditional Chinese Medicine
Every few years another weight loss drug gets thrown out because of their proven health risks. It used to be Redux and Fen-Phen. Yet, the FDA still approves new diet drugs, despite potential side effects that may be damaging to the heart.
Is there another, safer way to lose weight?The majority of people who resort to drugs to help them lose weight have previously tried dieting. Unfortunately, many studies indicate that as many as 95% of these people regain all their weight within a year!
The problem with many diets and diet drugs is that both approaches attempt to eliminate excess weight quickly by treating only the symptom. Because they don't reach the root of the problem, the results are not long lasting and may even be damaging.
It seems to be time to begin looking at the weight issue in a more holistic fashion. Let's look at weight loss through the eyes of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM).
Continue reading "Lose Weight in 10 Easy Steps with Traditional Chinese Medicine
Make Money
By Greg Nicholls
Sounds easy...Make Money...then why is it then that so many people have such a hard time doing this simple thing?
Or do they?
In one way or another, everyone does make money and in some cases, some people have money made for them.
Money made for them?
We look at people that are "feeding off the system" or they are "on welfare" or "social assistance" and feel that they are just sponging off of society, right?
What if this was actually very close to a millionaires mindset?
WHAT?
Yea!
Continue reading " Make Money"
Sounds easy...Make Money...then why is it then that so many people have such a hard time doing this simple thing?
Or do they?
In one way or another, everyone does make money and in some cases, some people have money made for them.
Money made for them?
We look at people that are "feeding off the system" or they are "on welfare" or "social assistance" and feel that they are just sponging off of society, right?
What if this was actually very close to a millionaires mindset?
WHAT?
Yea!
Continue reading " Make Money"
Is the genie in the bottle or in the glass?
Shape of the stemware can affect the taste of the wine, experts say.
By Bill Daley
Proper Americans a century ago believed that every food deserved its own special sterling utensil, be it sardine forks, asparagus tongs or tiny fruit knives. Whether or not the food tasted better was moot, but surely having everything just-so was almost as delicious to that upright, uptight generation.
Today's America is a considerably more casual place. Yet, our glassware is getting fancier -- particularly for wine. It seems every wine grape has its own stemware today.
Continue reading "Is the genie in the bottle or in the glass?"
By Bill Daley
Proper Americans a century ago believed that every food deserved its own special sterling utensil, be it sardine forks, asparagus tongs or tiny fruit knives. Whether or not the food tasted better was moot, but surely having everything just-so was almost as delicious to that upright, uptight generation.
Today's America is a considerably more casual place. Yet, our glassware is getting fancier -- particularly for wine. It seems every wine grape has its own stemware today.
Continue reading "Is the genie in the bottle or in the glass?"
Friday, May 18, 2007
Top Jobs for the Young (at Heart)
by Clare Kaufman
You began your career full of momentum and big plans. Don't let that ambition cool by stagnating in a job that isn't going anywhere. Whether you're a few years into your career or a few decades, you can take advantage of today's dynamic economy.
If you're young (or still young at heart), feeling stuck in your job and frustrated in you career goals, look into these well-paying, in-demand "gateway” jobs. They feature a high learning curve and reward performance with increased responsibility and advancement.
Continue reading "Top Jobs for the Young (at Heart)"
You began your career full of momentum and big plans. Don't let that ambition cool by stagnating in a job that isn't going anywhere. Whether you're a few years into your career or a few decades, you can take advantage of today's dynamic economy.
If you're young (or still young at heart), feeling stuck in your job and frustrated in you career goals, look into these well-paying, in-demand "gateway” jobs. They feature a high learning curve and reward performance with increased responsibility and advancement.
Continue reading "Top Jobs for the Young (at Heart)"
Learn How To Be Happy And How To Live Your Life
By Greg Nicholls
Want to know the secret to true happiness?
Want to know what those calm, relaxed, confident and successful people know to do every single day?
They just go live their lives!
Have you heard that before?
Do you want to know what that means?
Well, think about it, if you are un-happy and miserable, it is likely because you are not out enjoying all that life has to offer. Rather you are likely locked in a job somewhere wishing you were out living your life.
Have you ever heard this? "I do not sing because I am happy; I am happy because I sing."
What if we changed some words in this simple sentence? "I do not live my life because I am happy and successful; I am happy and successful because I live my life."
Living a life of happiness, means only doing things that you truly enjoy doing.
Some people respond to this, saying that there are things that you "have to do." I am here to tell you, the people that convinced you of that (if you have not just come to this conclusion all on your own) are probably not too happy doing what they do; they are not currently living their lives.
If you made enough money, you could find someone that would be willing to do whatever it is that you do not want to do.
You can make money, likely much more than you are currently making, if you begin doing something that makes you happy, something that gives you enjoyment.
So ask yourself; "what makes me happy?"
Really take some time at this moment and think about it; you have likely not given this some serious thought because you have likely been working so hard to make the money, to find the time, so you can live your life, that you forgot what it is that you have been working so hard for.
Am I right? Have you forgotten?
Have you even given yourself a vacation in the last year? The last two years? The last five years? It will only get worse, it will not get better until you stop for a moment and contemplate your life for a moment.
So, write down specifically, the answer to this very simple question:
"What Makes Me Happy?"
You will know you have figured it out when you get a smile on your face, when you get that tingle inside knowing that what you are thinking about makes you feel good, when you maybe even cry a little bit because you now know what you can now do to make you happy.
Whatever it is that you determine makes you happy, you can do it, and yes, you can make great money doing it too.
Is it easy to make money, you just need to organize your thoughts and form a plan around doing something that makes you happy.
The good news is you never have to do stuff like this alone. It is easy enough to find someone that will work through your ideas with you, and assist you in developing your strategy; your plan to create your happiness.
When you find that something that you would be willing to do for free, taking action, it will make you very wealthy.
You see, if you decide to go live your life, this will lead you to your success.
Just go live your life and you will find true happiness.
I love what I do, so take it from me; you can learn how to find true happiness.
Want to know the secret to true happiness?
Want to know what those calm, relaxed, confident and successful people know to do every single day?
They just go live their lives!
Have you heard that before?
Do you want to know what that means?
Well, think about it, if you are un-happy and miserable, it is likely because you are not out enjoying all that life has to offer. Rather you are likely locked in a job somewhere wishing you were out living your life.
Have you ever heard this? "I do not sing because I am happy; I am happy because I sing."
What if we changed some words in this simple sentence? "I do not live my life because I am happy and successful; I am happy and successful because I live my life."
Living a life of happiness, means only doing things that you truly enjoy doing.
Some people respond to this, saying that there are things that you "have to do." I am here to tell you, the people that convinced you of that (if you have not just come to this conclusion all on your own) are probably not too happy doing what they do; they are not currently living their lives.
If you made enough money, you could find someone that would be willing to do whatever it is that you do not want to do.
You can make money, likely much more than you are currently making, if you begin doing something that makes you happy, something that gives you enjoyment.
So ask yourself; "what makes me happy?"
Really take some time at this moment and think about it; you have likely not given this some serious thought because you have likely been working so hard to make the money, to find the time, so you can live your life, that you forgot what it is that you have been working so hard for.
Am I right? Have you forgotten?
Have you even given yourself a vacation in the last year? The last two years? The last five years? It will only get worse, it will not get better until you stop for a moment and contemplate your life for a moment.
So, write down specifically, the answer to this very simple question:
"What Makes Me Happy?"
You will know you have figured it out when you get a smile on your face, when you get that tingle inside knowing that what you are thinking about makes you feel good, when you maybe even cry a little bit because you now know what you can now do to make you happy.
Whatever it is that you determine makes you happy, you can do it, and yes, you can make great money doing it too.
Is it easy to make money, you just need to organize your thoughts and form a plan around doing something that makes you happy.
The good news is you never have to do stuff like this alone. It is easy enough to find someone that will work through your ideas with you, and assist you in developing your strategy; your plan to create your happiness.
When you find that something that you would be willing to do for free, taking action, it will make you very wealthy.
You see, if you decide to go live your life, this will lead you to your success.
Just go live your life and you will find true happiness.
I love what I do, so take it from me; you can learn how to find true happiness.
White hot in Australia:- Reds get the attention, but Aussie Riesling, Semillon and Viognier are nervy originals.
By Patrick Comiskey
Americans are developing a real taste for Australian red wines -- inky, fulsome Shirazes from the Barossa; dark, herb-scented Cabernets from Coonawarra; and stout-hearted blends from century-old vines in the McLaren Vale.
But it's time to squirrel these away, along with your winter woolens, until Labor Day.Instead, wake up your palate with whites from the same continent.
Australia simply excels at certain varieties -- Riesling and Semillon in particular -- making wines that are every bit as distinctive as the famed whites of Germany, Austria and France.
For every full-bodied tannic red, there is a light, nervy white with fresh, palate-cleansing acidity -- and springtime is a very good time to get acquainted.
Continue reading "White hot in Australia"
Americans are developing a real taste for Australian red wines -- inky, fulsome Shirazes from the Barossa; dark, herb-scented Cabernets from Coonawarra; and stout-hearted blends from century-old vines in the McLaren Vale.
But it's time to squirrel these away, along with your winter woolens, until Labor Day.Instead, wake up your palate with whites from the same continent.
Australia simply excels at certain varieties -- Riesling and Semillon in particular -- making wines that are every bit as distinctive as the famed whites of Germany, Austria and France.
For every full-bodied tannic red, there is a light, nervy white with fresh, palate-cleansing acidity -- and springtime is a very good time to get acquainted.
Continue reading "White hot in Australia"
Thursday, May 17, 2007
4 gas-saving myths
By David Ellis
Using a special additive or cutting off your A/C won't really cut your gasoline consumption. But myths like these run rampant in the minds of American drivers.
Right now, the price of gasoline is again setting record highs. The average price for a gallon of regular hit $3.087 Tuesday, the third record in a row.
So before you attempt a half-baked scheme to stretch your gas dollars, here's a look at what's fact and what's fiction when it comes to fuel economy:
Nothing but gimmicks
There have been additives, special magnets and even a pill that has promised to improve a car's fuel efficiency by as much as 30 percent in some cases.
While the promise of stretching your gas dollars seems awfully lucrative, especially when they cost under $20, most of these products provide a negligible, if any, improvement in fuel efficiency, said Rik Paul, the automotive editor for the publication Consumer Reports.
Consumer Reports and the government's Environmental Protection Agency, have tested dozens of these products finding that none of them offer any significant improvement in fuel economy.
"With all the pressure car companies are under, if one of these inexpensive devices dramatically did improve fuel economy, they (automakers) would be all over it," said Paul.
Windows, air conditioning - who cares?
There's the old saw that leaving your windows rolled down creates an aerodynamic drag on your car, cutting down on fuel efficiency. And there's the notion that the fastest way to drain your gas tank is by running your air conditioning.
Don't believe either one.
In two separate studies conducted in 2005, the automotive Web site Edmunds.com and Consumer Reports compared the fuel economy of both a sedan and an SUV at highway speeds with and without air conditioning and how open windows affected gas usage.
What they found was no significant difference in fuel economy in either sedan or SUV under either condition.
Don't wait until Wednesday
Some drivers insist the best time to buy gasoline is on a Wednesday, when pump prices have cooled from the weekend run-up when oil companies typically raise prices.
That's true to a point, says Tom Kloza, chief oil analyst at the Oil Price Information Service. Gas prices tend to be higher on the weekend, but there's no ideal day of the week to purchase your gas.
Geoff Sundstrom of the motorist organization AAA notes that gas prices fluctuate from day to day and are determined by gas station owners who look at a variety of factors including wholesale gasoline prices, competitors' prices and food and drink sales if they have an attached convenience store.
Drivers who want to bargain-hunt for inexpensive gas should instead check out Web sites like Gasbuddy.com, which allows consumers to find the cheapest gas in their area simply by entering their zip code.
Restart your engines
It's probably a myth that goes back to the days when cars were equipped with carburetors, but many drivers believe that starting up and turning off your car repeatedly is a fast way to drain your gas tank.
But because of modern fuel-injection technology, drivers actually save gas by turning off their engine than letting their car needlessly idle, says Consumer Reports' Paul.
Granted it's probably not sensible shutting down the engine every time you get stuck in traffic, but if it looks like you might be at the drive-thru for more than 30 seconds to a minute, it's worth turning off your car, says Paul.
Tips you can use
So what are some fuel-savings tips you can trust?
Make sure your tires are properly inflated for starters. Besides posing a safety hazard, underinflated tires can reduce your fuel economy slightly, based on Edmunds.com's 2005 study.
Removing excess weight from your car can also help save you gas. The Department of Energy estimates that drivers can save anywhere between 3 and 6 cents a gallon (assuming gas prices of $2.97 a gallon) just by removing those golf clubs and other unnecessary weight from your trunk.
If your car comes equipped with cruise control, make sure you use it, especially on long trips. Edmunds.com's study revealed that using cruise control at highway speeds offered an average fuel economy savings of 7 percent.
But the biggest fuel saver is driving the speed limit and driving sensibly. Rapid starts and stops and exceeding the speed limit will dent your pocketbook.
Just by adhering to one of those, the Department of Energy estimates that drivers can save anywhere between 15 and 98 cents a gallon, again assuming pump prices are at $2.97 a gallon.
Using a special additive or cutting off your A/C won't really cut your gasoline consumption. But myths like these run rampant in the minds of American drivers.
Right now, the price of gasoline is again setting record highs. The average price for a gallon of regular hit $3.087 Tuesday, the third record in a row.
So before you attempt a half-baked scheme to stretch your gas dollars, here's a look at what's fact and what's fiction when it comes to fuel economy:
Nothing but gimmicks
There have been additives, special magnets and even a pill that has promised to improve a car's fuel efficiency by as much as 30 percent in some cases.
While the promise of stretching your gas dollars seems awfully lucrative, especially when they cost under $20, most of these products provide a negligible, if any, improvement in fuel efficiency, said Rik Paul, the automotive editor for the publication Consumer Reports.
Consumer Reports and the government's Environmental Protection Agency, have tested dozens of these products finding that none of them offer any significant improvement in fuel economy.
"With all the pressure car companies are under, if one of these inexpensive devices dramatically did improve fuel economy, they (automakers) would be all over it," said Paul.
Windows, air conditioning - who cares?
There's the old saw that leaving your windows rolled down creates an aerodynamic drag on your car, cutting down on fuel efficiency. And there's the notion that the fastest way to drain your gas tank is by running your air conditioning.
Don't believe either one.
In two separate studies conducted in 2005, the automotive Web site Edmunds.com and Consumer Reports compared the fuel economy of both a sedan and an SUV at highway speeds with and without air conditioning and how open windows affected gas usage.
What they found was no significant difference in fuel economy in either sedan or SUV under either condition.
Don't wait until Wednesday
Some drivers insist the best time to buy gasoline is on a Wednesday, when pump prices have cooled from the weekend run-up when oil companies typically raise prices.
That's true to a point, says Tom Kloza, chief oil analyst at the Oil Price Information Service. Gas prices tend to be higher on the weekend, but there's no ideal day of the week to purchase your gas.
Geoff Sundstrom of the motorist organization AAA notes that gas prices fluctuate from day to day and are determined by gas station owners who look at a variety of factors including wholesale gasoline prices, competitors' prices and food and drink sales if they have an attached convenience store.
Drivers who want to bargain-hunt for inexpensive gas should instead check out Web sites like Gasbuddy.com, which allows consumers to find the cheapest gas in their area simply by entering their zip code.
Restart your engines
It's probably a myth that goes back to the days when cars were equipped with carburetors, but many drivers believe that starting up and turning off your car repeatedly is a fast way to drain your gas tank.
But because of modern fuel-injection technology, drivers actually save gas by turning off their engine than letting their car needlessly idle, says Consumer Reports' Paul.
Granted it's probably not sensible shutting down the engine every time you get stuck in traffic, but if it looks like you might be at the drive-thru for more than 30 seconds to a minute, it's worth turning off your car, says Paul.
Tips you can use
So what are some fuel-savings tips you can trust?
Make sure your tires are properly inflated for starters. Besides posing a safety hazard, underinflated tires can reduce your fuel economy slightly, based on Edmunds.com's 2005 study.
Removing excess weight from your car can also help save you gas. The Department of Energy estimates that drivers can save anywhere between 3 and 6 cents a gallon (assuming gas prices of $2.97 a gallon) just by removing those golf clubs and other unnecessary weight from your trunk.
If your car comes equipped with cruise control, make sure you use it, especially on long trips. Edmunds.com's study revealed that using cruise control at highway speeds offered an average fuel economy savings of 7 percent.
But the biggest fuel saver is driving the speed limit and driving sensibly. Rapid starts and stops and exceeding the speed limit will dent your pocketbook.
Just by adhering to one of those, the Department of Energy estimates that drivers can save anywhere between 15 and 98 cents a gallon, again assuming pump prices are at $2.97 a gallon.
So, It Is Only $49.95 To Get Started
By Greg Nicholls
It is always just $49.95, or something small to get started, but it is just the beginning of a snowball.
Now if you read that and think that the snowball is a negative thing, instead of a great snowball of success, then stop reading this article right now because you are not ready for success and wealth in your life.
It always takes something to get started in anything and it always starts out much the same; you respond to some kind of an ad, an initial phone call is made, some introductory information is obtained by you, you begin seeing a system unfold, a three way call is put together to answer your questions, then it is time for making a decision, is this for you?
If so, then comes paying a startup cost (maybe $49.95) and if you are serious, making a product purchase. Most importantly, through this whole process, you are realizing a belief in yourself to get started, and yes, to get started in something you truly believe you will succeed in.
If you do not truly believe you will succeed, then you are just looking at something that will be an expensive hobbie that in time you may complain about to all your friends; "those home businesses don't work, or they are all just scams".
Again, if at this point you are wondering what is the catch here? What is this guy selling? Then quit reading this article, it is really not for you. This is for entrepreneurial minded people that desire to understand the philosophy of success in home business.
OK, now that we have cleared the room again and I have filtered out more tire kickers...
The $49.95 start-up cost is just to take the first baby step, or like dipping your baby toe in the water.
To be serious about your success, you prove to yourself your conviction and belief in yourself when you jump in with both feet; you buy all the product, you quit your job the next week and pursue your business with the absolute intent of succeeding quickly, doing so with no other options, no plan of retreat; it is simply succeed or succeed.
Most people fail in home business because they want to "try" it out for a while, they want to "take a look around", they are "skeptical" that maybe it is a "scam". And they wonder why they are and continue to stay broke.
Do not waste your time with these people, hang-up the phone on them if you have to, there are plenty of qualified people out there that are waiting for you to give them a call.
Look at it this way; there are other people, like me, that out there building their home businesses too, and like me, they are sorting through their leads to find the people that are looking to start a business right now.
If you get stuck talking to and trying to convince people to get started with you, instead of just signing up the people that are ready to get started without any convincing or explaining from you, then I will get through to these people ahead of you and they will get started with me instead of you.
Hobbies are designed to be a things to spend (basically waste) your money on.
Businesses are not hobbies, they are income generating vehicles that if treated seriously, they will quickly get you to your desired destination.
But you know this already, if you did not, you would have found another article to read by now.
So you want the goods?
Good, you deserve it now.
So here is the best advice I can give you; it is the advice that was given to me by my successful mentor:-
Treat your business like a business right out of the gate: This is to BE your business and that means to be a "walking testimony" of how great the products you want people to buy from you are because you own them and use them yourself.
Develop your "Why" or your Mission Statement: The best way I know you can do this is take the time to write out your "ultimate day" in the present tense; this is what your life will be like when you have attained the level of success in your life, where you can look back and see that you have set in motion a legacy for future generations, a life of accomplishment.
This will really kick you in the butt if you were true to yourself when you wrote it.
Do what you expect others to do, lead by example: If you want everyone that joins your business to buy all the product, so you can make awesome money from each new associate that gets started, then you better make a mad dash for your check book right now and start forking over the money for this incredible product yourself.
You can only expect people to duplicate what you do, otherwise you are asking someone to do something that you were not willing to do yourself.
To be a good leader, you must be a follower first: Teach the people in your business to be a good leader by being a good follower yourself first.
You can only learn how to do your business properly, if you are learning from the people that have already demonstrated how to succeed in the business you are in.
Teaching people to play follow the leader is the easiest way to develop duplication in your business.
Follow the system: If the company you are representing has a training program, follow it to the letter, this is were leverage and duplication work in your favor.
If your business will run any differently for you with ten people or two thousand people, then you are not teaching the system, or the system of the company you are working will need some adjustments.
All you should have to do more of, is accepting multiple couriers each day and depositing more checks.
Talk to as many people as possible: There is no sense in having a "Secret Business" if nobody knows about what it is you have and what you do, then who is going to buy from you?
Find people better than you: That means speaking to people that are high on the totem pole of life, people already succeeding in life.
So there you go, some of my best advice, if you like it and you want more, give me a call, I am looking to work with some more awesome and successful people.
If you are awesome and successful, visit my website, http://www.AnAwesomeBusiness.com of course is it awesome, what else would it be?
It is always just $49.95, or something small to get started, but it is just the beginning of a snowball.
Now if you read that and think that the snowball is a negative thing, instead of a great snowball of success, then stop reading this article right now because you are not ready for success and wealth in your life.
It always takes something to get started in anything and it always starts out much the same; you respond to some kind of an ad, an initial phone call is made, some introductory information is obtained by you, you begin seeing a system unfold, a three way call is put together to answer your questions, then it is time for making a decision, is this for you?
If so, then comes paying a startup cost (maybe $49.95) and if you are serious, making a product purchase. Most importantly, through this whole process, you are realizing a belief in yourself to get started, and yes, to get started in something you truly believe you will succeed in.
If you do not truly believe you will succeed, then you are just looking at something that will be an expensive hobbie that in time you may complain about to all your friends; "those home businesses don't work, or they are all just scams".
Again, if at this point you are wondering what is the catch here? What is this guy selling? Then quit reading this article, it is really not for you. This is for entrepreneurial minded people that desire to understand the philosophy of success in home business.
OK, now that we have cleared the room again and I have filtered out more tire kickers...
The $49.95 start-up cost is just to take the first baby step, or like dipping your baby toe in the water.
To be serious about your success, you prove to yourself your conviction and belief in yourself when you jump in with both feet; you buy all the product, you quit your job the next week and pursue your business with the absolute intent of succeeding quickly, doing so with no other options, no plan of retreat; it is simply succeed or succeed.
Most people fail in home business because they want to "try" it out for a while, they want to "take a look around", they are "skeptical" that maybe it is a "scam". And they wonder why they are and continue to stay broke.
Do not waste your time with these people, hang-up the phone on them if you have to, there are plenty of qualified people out there that are waiting for you to give them a call.
Look at it this way; there are other people, like me, that out there building their home businesses too, and like me, they are sorting through their leads to find the people that are looking to start a business right now.
If you get stuck talking to and trying to convince people to get started with you, instead of just signing up the people that are ready to get started without any convincing or explaining from you, then I will get through to these people ahead of you and they will get started with me instead of you.
Hobbies are designed to be a things to spend (basically waste) your money on.
Businesses are not hobbies, they are income generating vehicles that if treated seriously, they will quickly get you to your desired destination.
But you know this already, if you did not, you would have found another article to read by now.
So you want the goods?
Good, you deserve it now.
So here is the best advice I can give you; it is the advice that was given to me by my successful mentor:-
Treat your business like a business right out of the gate: This is to BE your business and that means to be a "walking testimony" of how great the products you want people to buy from you are because you own them and use them yourself.
Develop your "Why" or your Mission Statement: The best way I know you can do this is take the time to write out your "ultimate day" in the present tense; this is what your life will be like when you have attained the level of success in your life, where you can look back and see that you have set in motion a legacy for future generations, a life of accomplishment.
This will really kick you in the butt if you were true to yourself when you wrote it.
Do what you expect others to do, lead by example: If you want everyone that joins your business to buy all the product, so you can make awesome money from each new associate that gets started, then you better make a mad dash for your check book right now and start forking over the money for this incredible product yourself.
You can only expect people to duplicate what you do, otherwise you are asking someone to do something that you were not willing to do yourself.
To be a good leader, you must be a follower first: Teach the people in your business to be a good leader by being a good follower yourself first.
You can only learn how to do your business properly, if you are learning from the people that have already demonstrated how to succeed in the business you are in.
Teaching people to play follow the leader is the easiest way to develop duplication in your business.
Follow the system: If the company you are representing has a training program, follow it to the letter, this is were leverage and duplication work in your favor.
If your business will run any differently for you with ten people or two thousand people, then you are not teaching the system, or the system of the company you are working will need some adjustments.
All you should have to do more of, is accepting multiple couriers each day and depositing more checks.
Talk to as many people as possible: There is no sense in having a "Secret Business" if nobody knows about what it is you have and what you do, then who is going to buy from you?
Find people better than you: That means speaking to people that are high on the totem pole of life, people already succeeding in life.
So there you go, some of my best advice, if you like it and you want more, give me a call, I am looking to work with some more awesome and successful people.
If you are awesome and successful, visit my website, http://www.AnAwesomeBusiness.com of course is it awesome, what else would it be?
Moonshine for sophisticates
Matthew B. Rowley's new book "Moonshine!" tells what to do when your fruit basket overflows: make grappa, peach brandy, bourbon and rye.
By Charles Perry
Fresh fruit is a glorious thing. But what do you do when the markets are overflowing with it and you bring home more fruit than you can possibly eat? Force it on your neighbors? Learn how to can? Turn it into compost?
In Europe, berries, stone fruits and apples are often distilled into elegant fruit brandies called eaux de vie. There's also a tradition of home-distilled spirits in this country, but here we might call them by a more poetic-sounding name: moonshine.
Unfortunately for anybody with too many peaches or plums, you can't legally operate a still in this country without jumping through a lot of regulatory hoops.
In fact, if your kid wanted to distill alcohol for a science project, the school would have to get licensed as an Alcohol Fuel Plant. (Remember to submit application 5110.74 to the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau.)
Nevertheless, Matthew B. Rowley wrote "Moonshine!" just to encourage us to jump through all those hoops and try our hands at distilling.
Making small-batch spirits has the potential to be a connoisseur's pursuit parallel to home brewing. And as we know, the home brew movement of the '80s led directly to the wide variety of microbrews and craft beers available to us today.
Rowley, a food writer and a former board member of the Southern Foodways Alliance, points out that home distilling isn't inherently an outlaw thing. At the time of the American Revolution, most families distilled all sorts of things for their own use, and the lady of the house was the one in charge of the stillroom.
Still, the cover of his book is a bit misleading -- it shows a stereotypical hillbilly and his dog and promises "drinking songs, knee-slappers and tall tales."
Rowley does include that sort of country corn, but this book isn't the liquid cousin of the white trash cookbooks that had a vogue in the '80s -- it's about the world of home distillation, legal as well as illegal, urban and rural, past, present and possibly future.
Much of the story he tells is familiar: the frontier farmers who took to selling corn whiskey because they couldn't transport their corn crop on the bad roads of the time; the wars with revenue agents; Prohibition; the daredevil moonshine haulers who later became some of the top NASCAR drivers.
It will come as a surprise to some people to learn that moonshine is not dead -- far from it. There's big money in supplying disreputable bars with cheap, headachy 'splo (short for "explosion") distilled from sugar and cattle feed.
Home distillers
What has come close to dying out is the old-time country moonshiner who took pride in the quality of his sippin' whiskey, Rowley says. But he sees a countervailing rise of quality-minded home distillers.
Many of them, he says, build their own stills (in some cases, just possibly because the government requires companies that sell stills to report the names of buyers). They cull recipes from rare book collections to re-create old-time whiskeys or they make brandy, rum, cachaça, grappa and other spirits.
It helps his credibility that he has clearly tasted a lot of moonshine, good and bad. This may be the only book you ever read in which you can find, in effect, tasting notes on liquor that came in unlabeled fruit jars.
Rowley has an enthusiastic taste for the good stuff, but he makes no bones about the fact that a lot of commercial moonshine is shoddily made or even poisonous.
It may contain lead because the stills have been cheaply put together with lead-based solder, and there's a chilling list of additives some moonshiners resort to for more "kick," including lye and embalming fluid.
In cheering for a revival of home distilling, Rowley is careful to say that he's not advising anybody to bypass any of the convoluted federal and state regulations on distilling -- the Feds alone can hit you with a $10,000 fine and five years in prison.
(By the way, he gives some links to the Tax and Trade Bureau's website concerning those regulations, but the links no longer work, so you should just go to its home page, http://www.ttb.gov , and hunt around for the link you want, such as FAQs.)
On the contrary, he expresses the hope that the more people practice home distillation legally, the more the government will be pressured to relax those laws, just as it decriminalized home brewing in 1978.
Having whetted our appetites with his picture of the home-distilling world, Rowley proceeds to give 70 pages' worth of detailed instructions on how to do it yourself. How to build a still out of a three-foot square of copper, a bunch of copper tubing and some reducing couplers.
(It certainly looks doable, though the seams do have to be brazed with an acetylene torch, so it might help to have connections at a sheet metal shop.) How to brew a mash from grain or fruit. How to distill it, in 12 steps.
Then he gives 23 recipes for home-distilled booze, ranging in complexity from the elementary white sugar 'splo that commercial moonshiners make to home versions of bourbon, rye, grappa and even East Asian rice brandy.
He seems particularly keen on split brandy, which is made from a mixture of corn and peaches.
A simple setup
Just to make the idea seem more real, Rowley describes a kind of still that you could improvise out of ordinary household utensils: a stockpot, a bowl, an electric hot plate with a temperature control and a wok.
(The wok has to be the old-fashioned type with a round bottom, not the flat-bottomed type designed for using directly on a range burner. And it has to be made of shiny stainless steel, because an iron wok apparently will give a bad flavor.)
First you have to make some home brew out of fruit or grain. When it's fermented, you strain off the liquid part (called the wash or beer) and put that in the stockpot, which sits on the hot plate.
Then you float the bowl in the pot, set the wok on top and turn on the hot plate.When alcohol vapor starts rising, you fill the wok with ice. The fumes condense on the bottom of the wok and drip into the bowl.
That crystal-clear liquid is raw whiskey or brandy: moonshine.Rowley is far from the first to describe this elemental rig. In fact, it's one of the most ancient still designs, widely known to this day in East Asia.
It was the sort of still used for making tequila in 19th century Mexico. Not the hot plate or ice-filled wok part, of course, but the idea of condensing inside the heating chamber.
It's actually a pretty lousy design -- you have to reach into the stockpot from time to time and empty the bowl into some sort of jar, or your precious moonshine will start to boil off.There's a huge amount of waste and very little control over the end product.
That's why a serious still draws off all the vapor in a tube called an arm and condenses it outside the heating chamber, so the distiller can carefully separate desirable and undesirable fractions of the still run.
Still, the stockpot-wok still makes it clear what an elemental process distilling is: Vaporized liquid condenses on a cold surface. If you wanted to produce a good-tasting product, or one that wouldn't give you headaches or ethanol poisoning, there are apparently many more details to master.
But countless numbers of people have mastered them in the past. And, you have to figure, felt darn proud of themselves.This idea of home distilling is a seductive fantasy, even though distilling is more complicated than home brewing.
(And, because high-proof alcohol is a fire hazard, it's more dangerous, which is a serious consideration.)Understandably, not many of us are ready to deal with the current regulations imposed by all levels of government.
Just for the federal TTB's go-ahead, you have to pay a tax, post a bond, prove all your equipment and drainage are up to code, provide a separate structure for the still (not a dwelling, probably because of the fire danger) and do huge amounts of paperwork on an ongoing basis.
But if enough of us try, maybe Rowley's vision will become reality, and one day it will be easier for us to make our own, just as our ancestors did at the time of the Revolution.Rowley's book sure makes that sound like fun.
By Charles Perry
Fresh fruit is a glorious thing. But what do you do when the markets are overflowing with it and you bring home more fruit than you can possibly eat? Force it on your neighbors? Learn how to can? Turn it into compost?
In Europe, berries, stone fruits and apples are often distilled into elegant fruit brandies called eaux de vie. There's also a tradition of home-distilled spirits in this country, but here we might call them by a more poetic-sounding name: moonshine.
Unfortunately for anybody with too many peaches or plums, you can't legally operate a still in this country without jumping through a lot of regulatory hoops.
In fact, if your kid wanted to distill alcohol for a science project, the school would have to get licensed as an Alcohol Fuel Plant. (Remember to submit application 5110.74 to the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau.)
Nevertheless, Matthew B. Rowley wrote "Moonshine!" just to encourage us to jump through all those hoops and try our hands at distilling.
Making small-batch spirits has the potential to be a connoisseur's pursuit parallel to home brewing. And as we know, the home brew movement of the '80s led directly to the wide variety of microbrews and craft beers available to us today.
Rowley, a food writer and a former board member of the Southern Foodways Alliance, points out that home distilling isn't inherently an outlaw thing. At the time of the American Revolution, most families distilled all sorts of things for their own use, and the lady of the house was the one in charge of the stillroom.
Still, the cover of his book is a bit misleading -- it shows a stereotypical hillbilly and his dog and promises "drinking songs, knee-slappers and tall tales."
Rowley does include that sort of country corn, but this book isn't the liquid cousin of the white trash cookbooks that had a vogue in the '80s -- it's about the world of home distillation, legal as well as illegal, urban and rural, past, present and possibly future.
Much of the story he tells is familiar: the frontier farmers who took to selling corn whiskey because they couldn't transport their corn crop on the bad roads of the time; the wars with revenue agents; Prohibition; the daredevil moonshine haulers who later became some of the top NASCAR drivers.
It will come as a surprise to some people to learn that moonshine is not dead -- far from it. There's big money in supplying disreputable bars with cheap, headachy 'splo (short for "explosion") distilled from sugar and cattle feed.
Home distillers
What has come close to dying out is the old-time country moonshiner who took pride in the quality of his sippin' whiskey, Rowley says. But he sees a countervailing rise of quality-minded home distillers.
Many of them, he says, build their own stills (in some cases, just possibly because the government requires companies that sell stills to report the names of buyers). They cull recipes from rare book collections to re-create old-time whiskeys or they make brandy, rum, cachaça, grappa and other spirits.
It helps his credibility that he has clearly tasted a lot of moonshine, good and bad. This may be the only book you ever read in which you can find, in effect, tasting notes on liquor that came in unlabeled fruit jars.
Rowley has an enthusiastic taste for the good stuff, but he makes no bones about the fact that a lot of commercial moonshine is shoddily made or even poisonous.
It may contain lead because the stills have been cheaply put together with lead-based solder, and there's a chilling list of additives some moonshiners resort to for more "kick," including lye and embalming fluid.
In cheering for a revival of home distilling, Rowley is careful to say that he's not advising anybody to bypass any of the convoluted federal and state regulations on distilling -- the Feds alone can hit you with a $10,000 fine and five years in prison.
(By the way, he gives some links to the Tax and Trade Bureau's website concerning those regulations, but the links no longer work, so you should just go to its home page, http://www.ttb.gov , and hunt around for the link you want, such as FAQs.)
On the contrary, he expresses the hope that the more people practice home distillation legally, the more the government will be pressured to relax those laws, just as it decriminalized home brewing in 1978.
Having whetted our appetites with his picture of the home-distilling world, Rowley proceeds to give 70 pages' worth of detailed instructions on how to do it yourself. How to build a still out of a three-foot square of copper, a bunch of copper tubing and some reducing couplers.
(It certainly looks doable, though the seams do have to be brazed with an acetylene torch, so it might help to have connections at a sheet metal shop.) How to brew a mash from grain or fruit. How to distill it, in 12 steps.
Then he gives 23 recipes for home-distilled booze, ranging in complexity from the elementary white sugar 'splo that commercial moonshiners make to home versions of bourbon, rye, grappa and even East Asian rice brandy.
He seems particularly keen on split brandy, which is made from a mixture of corn and peaches.
A simple setup
Just to make the idea seem more real, Rowley describes a kind of still that you could improvise out of ordinary household utensils: a stockpot, a bowl, an electric hot plate with a temperature control and a wok.
(The wok has to be the old-fashioned type with a round bottom, not the flat-bottomed type designed for using directly on a range burner. And it has to be made of shiny stainless steel, because an iron wok apparently will give a bad flavor.)
First you have to make some home brew out of fruit or grain. When it's fermented, you strain off the liquid part (called the wash or beer) and put that in the stockpot, which sits on the hot plate.
Then you float the bowl in the pot, set the wok on top and turn on the hot plate.When alcohol vapor starts rising, you fill the wok with ice. The fumes condense on the bottom of the wok and drip into the bowl.
That crystal-clear liquid is raw whiskey or brandy: moonshine.Rowley is far from the first to describe this elemental rig. In fact, it's one of the most ancient still designs, widely known to this day in East Asia.
It was the sort of still used for making tequila in 19th century Mexico. Not the hot plate or ice-filled wok part, of course, but the idea of condensing inside the heating chamber.
It's actually a pretty lousy design -- you have to reach into the stockpot from time to time and empty the bowl into some sort of jar, or your precious moonshine will start to boil off.There's a huge amount of waste and very little control over the end product.
That's why a serious still draws off all the vapor in a tube called an arm and condenses it outside the heating chamber, so the distiller can carefully separate desirable and undesirable fractions of the still run.
Still, the stockpot-wok still makes it clear what an elemental process distilling is: Vaporized liquid condenses on a cold surface. If you wanted to produce a good-tasting product, or one that wouldn't give you headaches or ethanol poisoning, there are apparently many more details to master.
But countless numbers of people have mastered them in the past. And, you have to figure, felt darn proud of themselves.This idea of home distilling is a seductive fantasy, even though distilling is more complicated than home brewing.
(And, because high-proof alcohol is a fire hazard, it's more dangerous, which is a serious consideration.)Understandably, not many of us are ready to deal with the current regulations imposed by all levels of government.
Just for the federal TTB's go-ahead, you have to pay a tax, post a bond, prove all your equipment and drainage are up to code, provide a separate structure for the still (not a dwelling, probably because of the fire danger) and do huge amounts of paperwork on an ongoing basis.
But if enough of us try, maybe Rowley's vision will become reality, and one day it will be easier for us to make our own, just as our ancestors did at the time of the Revolution.Rowley's book sure makes that sound like fun.
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
Cure Insomnia - Herbal Remedies
By: Philip Jubb
Insomnia is one of the more miserable of complaints suffered on a regular basis by mankind. Many sufferers of Insomnia and other sleep disorders lay there night after night staring into the dark becoming more and more despondant.
What to do? One of the first stops for the sufferer looking to cure Insomnia is the doctors surgery. This is a good idea as a physical checkup will reveal wether or not there is a phisical reason for the Insomnia or sleep disorder.
The drawback is that if the doctor finds no real reason for the Insomnia he is likely to reccomend a period of pill taking.The drawbacks here are well documented.
Addiction, morning headaches, daytime fatigue, personality changes, memory impairment, impaired concentration, poor judgment, mood disturbances, and in extream cases irregular heartbeat, and high blood pressure.
The list goes on and on. A safer option for an insomnia cure may well lie in the direction of a herbal remedy. Used to cure insomnia and many other ailments for thousands of years these natural remedies are becoming more and more popular with main stream health care professionals.
They are not a quick fix. They will not put you to sleep in minutes or keep you in an artificial coma for hours. Herbal remedies are, in the main, more gentle and as a cure for insomnia offer an ideal alternative to main stream medicine.
It is certainly a very large and complex subject, for more detailed advice than we go into here sign up for our article list at the address shown below.
A herbal insomnia cure may well include one or a blend of the following:-
PASSION FLOWER eases anxiety-induced insomnia. Calming and can ease muscle spasms that can be very painful and keep you awake.
PEPPERMINT Used as a tea it may ease digestion
RED CLOVER Used for years as a tonic. Very relaxing
REISHI MUSHROOM Eases anxiety and calms the nervous system. A help for those with insomnia.
ST. JOHN'S WORT Good for mild depression and anxiety. It improves the quality of sleep
SIBERIAN GINSENG Gives you a lift. Good for the treatment of depression, lethargy and chronic fatigue syndrome
PEARMINT A few drops on your pillow can be very soothing
THYME Try it as a tea or put a bit into your pillow
VALERIAN Valerian tea is a natural sedative
WOOD BETONY Use it as a substitute for tea
CATNIP Often used in insomnia formulas and as a sleep promoting tea
FLEECE FLOWER ROOT Treatment for deficient blood syndrome
GOTU KOLA Has a calming effect and also improves the circulation
HOELEN Noted for it's calming, soothing effect
HOPS Relaxing and calming. It also digestion
JASMINE Used as a tea, it's a mild nerve sedative
JUJUBE (DA T'SAO) Relieves nervous tension and apprehension
KAVA KAVA Very relaxing
LAVENDER Use it in your nightly bath
LEMON BALM Relieves nervous tension
MARSHMALLOW ROOT A calming herb
OAT FIBER Soothing to the digestion and to the nervous system
PASSION FLOWER Eases anxiety-induced insomnia
SAGE Eases depression and is good for the nerves
A longer list, doses preparation and further details are shown in our leading EBook available at http://www.getofftosleep.com/?hop=natch.
Whilst this list is incomplete and almost all lists will be its noticiable that a large number of the "Cure Insomnia" remedies point to relaxation and digestion. These will be the subject of our next articles "Cure Insomnia - Relaxation" and "Cure Insomnia - digestion".
As with all things medical please consult a QUALIFIED MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL before any attempts at medication wether self medication or otherwise.
Philip Jubb
http://www.getofftosleep.com/sqe2/index.html
http://www.snorefreenights.com
Philip is the author of several books and many articles available on the internet.
Insomnia is one of the more miserable of complaints suffered on a regular basis by mankind. Many sufferers of Insomnia and other sleep disorders lay there night after night staring into the dark becoming more and more despondant.
What to do? One of the first stops for the sufferer looking to cure Insomnia is the doctors surgery. This is a good idea as a physical checkup will reveal wether or not there is a phisical reason for the Insomnia or sleep disorder.
The drawback is that if the doctor finds no real reason for the Insomnia he is likely to reccomend a period of pill taking.The drawbacks here are well documented.
Addiction, morning headaches, daytime fatigue, personality changes, memory impairment, impaired concentration, poor judgment, mood disturbances, and in extream cases irregular heartbeat, and high blood pressure.
The list goes on and on. A safer option for an insomnia cure may well lie in the direction of a herbal remedy. Used to cure insomnia and many other ailments for thousands of years these natural remedies are becoming more and more popular with main stream health care professionals.
They are not a quick fix. They will not put you to sleep in minutes or keep you in an artificial coma for hours. Herbal remedies are, in the main, more gentle and as a cure for insomnia offer an ideal alternative to main stream medicine.
It is certainly a very large and complex subject, for more detailed advice than we go into here sign up for our article list at the address shown below.
A herbal insomnia cure may well include one or a blend of the following:-
PASSION FLOWER eases anxiety-induced insomnia. Calming and can ease muscle spasms that can be very painful and keep you awake.
PEPPERMINT Used as a tea it may ease digestion
RED CLOVER Used for years as a tonic. Very relaxing
REISHI MUSHROOM Eases anxiety and calms the nervous system. A help for those with insomnia.
ST. JOHN'S WORT Good for mild depression and anxiety. It improves the quality of sleep
SIBERIAN GINSENG Gives you a lift. Good for the treatment of depression, lethargy and chronic fatigue syndrome
PEARMINT A few drops on your pillow can be very soothing
THYME Try it as a tea or put a bit into your pillow
VALERIAN Valerian tea is a natural sedative
WOOD BETONY Use it as a substitute for tea
CATNIP Often used in insomnia formulas and as a sleep promoting tea
FLEECE FLOWER ROOT Treatment for deficient blood syndrome
GOTU KOLA Has a calming effect and also improves the circulation
HOELEN Noted for it's calming, soothing effect
HOPS Relaxing and calming. It also digestion
JASMINE Used as a tea, it's a mild nerve sedative
JUJUBE (DA T'SAO) Relieves nervous tension and apprehension
KAVA KAVA Very relaxing
LAVENDER Use it in your nightly bath
LEMON BALM Relieves nervous tension
MARSHMALLOW ROOT A calming herb
OAT FIBER Soothing to the digestion and to the nervous system
PASSION FLOWER Eases anxiety-induced insomnia
SAGE Eases depression and is good for the nerves
A longer list, doses preparation and further details are shown in our leading EBook available at http://www.getofftosleep.com/?hop=natch.
Whilst this list is incomplete and almost all lists will be its noticiable that a large number of the "Cure Insomnia" remedies point to relaxation and digestion. These will be the subject of our next articles "Cure Insomnia - Relaxation" and "Cure Insomnia - digestion".
As with all things medical please consult a QUALIFIED MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL before any attempts at medication wether self medication or otherwise.
Philip Jubb
http://www.getofftosleep.com/sqe2/index.html
http://www.snorefreenights.com
Philip is the author of several books and many articles available on the internet.
Learn How To Make More Money In Less Time - Why Working 50+ Hours Per Week Is Destroying Your Family
By Greg Nicholls
If you love your family, you will read this article.
Do I doubt your love for your family?
Not for a moment.
I am sure you are a person that wants to be an influence in your families life, rather than the stranger that shows up from time to time.
The reason why I make the statement that working 50+ hours per week is destroying your family, simply comes from the fact that if you are not present in your families lives, you are not an influence.
Now, if you are thinking that the 50+ hours is what is required for you to "earn a living" then let's take a serious look at that.
Earning a living, or making enough money to sustain your families welfare is on the surface, an honourable pursuit. If you have to trade too much time for the money you require, then it is only because you are not getting paid enough to work less hours and to make the same money.
Here are some ways you can begin to make more money in less time:
1. Start your own business and work from home :-
People are doing this and making enough money to replace their income on a regular business
The tax write-off's are huge
The reduction in your overhead costs like clothing, travel time, vehicle expenses, insurance, food, etc. is huge.
2. Educate yourself in your field:-
Become of greater value to the company you work for, take some related courses, they will pay you more if you are worth more to them.
Learn about your competition, learn their strengths and weaknesses and develop a better strategy for your employer, this extra effort will move you up the ranks
Find out where your own company is weak, make yourself strong in that area and get yourself promoted.
3. Request that your employer allow you to work from home:-
For this to happen, you must have a job that is not location dependent. Jobs like this exist, do the recommendations in #2 and create this opportunity for yourself.
You will save your employer money
You will save yourself time in commuting
You will reduce your overhead costs
4. Learn how to be more efficient in your work - this will get you a raise and reduce the amount of time at work:-
Plan your next work day before you leave today
Complete the six most important things first, then do the rest on the list.
Allow you to-do list to flow, keep adding to one list and remove the items from it as they are completes. This is the list you will determine the six most important things on.
Stay away from the company chatter; going around and talking with everyone is counter productive, this is robbing you and the company of time and makes you have to stay later to get done what you did not work on while you were chatting.
5. Take action on one of the four things above, if you do nothing, then nothing will change and likely you will end up working more hours. I rate this list in the order of importance for your consideration.
Figure out a way that you can get back home to be with your family and when you get there, do not just sit down in front of the TV. For you to be an influence, allow your kids to see that you love them, show an interest in what they do.
Work with them on their homework, (a real trick to looking smart is have them teach you what they know) instil a good work ethic. Show them how to work smart, not hard.
If you are thinking that you require some special university degree to accomplish what you want to have in life, this is a "sales pitch" that you have decided to buy in to.
You are a person of skill and talent; it is up to you to believe in yourself to make that happen.
I hope this article has assisted you to learn how to make more money in less time and I hope you better understand why working 50+ hours per week is destroying your family.
If you love your family, you will read this article.
Do I doubt your love for your family?
Not for a moment.
I am sure you are a person that wants to be an influence in your families life, rather than the stranger that shows up from time to time.
The reason why I make the statement that working 50+ hours per week is destroying your family, simply comes from the fact that if you are not present in your families lives, you are not an influence.
Now, if you are thinking that the 50+ hours is what is required for you to "earn a living" then let's take a serious look at that.
Earning a living, or making enough money to sustain your families welfare is on the surface, an honourable pursuit. If you have to trade too much time for the money you require, then it is only because you are not getting paid enough to work less hours and to make the same money.
Here are some ways you can begin to make more money in less time:
1. Start your own business and work from home :-
People are doing this and making enough money to replace their income on a regular business
The tax write-off's are huge
The reduction in your overhead costs like clothing, travel time, vehicle expenses, insurance, food, etc. is huge.
2. Educate yourself in your field:-
Become of greater value to the company you work for, take some related courses, they will pay you more if you are worth more to them.
Learn about your competition, learn their strengths and weaknesses and develop a better strategy for your employer, this extra effort will move you up the ranks
Find out where your own company is weak, make yourself strong in that area and get yourself promoted.
3. Request that your employer allow you to work from home:-
For this to happen, you must have a job that is not location dependent. Jobs like this exist, do the recommendations in #2 and create this opportunity for yourself.
You will save your employer money
You will save yourself time in commuting
You will reduce your overhead costs
4. Learn how to be more efficient in your work - this will get you a raise and reduce the amount of time at work:-
Plan your next work day before you leave today
Complete the six most important things first, then do the rest on the list.
Allow you to-do list to flow, keep adding to one list and remove the items from it as they are completes. This is the list you will determine the six most important things on.
Stay away from the company chatter; going around and talking with everyone is counter productive, this is robbing you and the company of time and makes you have to stay later to get done what you did not work on while you were chatting.
5. Take action on one of the four things above, if you do nothing, then nothing will change and likely you will end up working more hours. I rate this list in the order of importance for your consideration.
Figure out a way that you can get back home to be with your family and when you get there, do not just sit down in front of the TV. For you to be an influence, allow your kids to see that you love them, show an interest in what they do.
Work with them on their homework, (a real trick to looking smart is have them teach you what they know) instil a good work ethic. Show them how to work smart, not hard.
If you are thinking that you require some special university degree to accomplish what you want to have in life, this is a "sales pitch" that you have decided to buy in to.
You are a person of skill and talent; it is up to you to believe in yourself to make that happen.
I hope this article has assisted you to learn how to make more money in less time and I hope you better understand why working 50+ hours per week is destroying your family.
Wave Goodbye to Winter
From Nightclub & Bar
As a farewell to a wet winter in Atlanta, Jack Rabbit Lounge Manager Jaynie Coffee gathered her staff to throw a “Snow School” party.
Her determination to get the Oakley eyewear company paid off when Oakley reps agreed to help host the event as long as there was another similar, non-alcohol sponsor involved.
Forum Snowboards joined up, and with the addition of an ice luge provided by Absolut vodka, the party was a well-rounded, high-profit event.
“Oakley and Forum donated attire for the staff,” Coffee says. “They brought in a box of hats and gloves and goggles. I thought that the theme fit the club really well. We had 12 employees working that night, which was a lot since we are a small space.”
Patrons got in on the action, and any attendees in costume or equipped with a past lift pass from a ski resort were granted free admission. The door charge was a modest $5, and Coffee says there were more than 100 shots sent down the ice luge at $3 apiece.
“We were doing Absolut flavored shots. We had a lemon drop, a blue kamikaze, a raspberry shot and then plain Absolut Pear shots.”
Click here to assist you further in managing your bar operation
As a farewell to a wet winter in Atlanta, Jack Rabbit Lounge Manager Jaynie Coffee gathered her staff to throw a “Snow School” party.
Her determination to get the Oakley eyewear company paid off when Oakley reps agreed to help host the event as long as there was another similar, non-alcohol sponsor involved.
Forum Snowboards joined up, and with the addition of an ice luge provided by Absolut vodka, the party was a well-rounded, high-profit event.
“Oakley and Forum donated attire for the staff,” Coffee says. “They brought in a box of hats and gloves and goggles. I thought that the theme fit the club really well. We had 12 employees working that night, which was a lot since we are a small space.”
Patrons got in on the action, and any attendees in costume or equipped with a past lift pass from a ski resort were granted free admission. The door charge was a modest $5, and Coffee says there were more than 100 shots sent down the ice luge at $3 apiece.
“We were doing Absolut flavored shots. We had a lemon drop, a blue kamikaze, a raspberry shot and then plain Absolut Pear shots.”
Click here to assist you further in managing your bar operation
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
The Second Universal Law of Success: Law of Change
From LifeSkill Institute, Inc
"And be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind . . ."
—Romans 12:2
"Be not conformed to this world . . ." means that you are not locked in to whatever circumstances, situations, associations, challenges and so on that exists in your life right now. You do not have to remain in your present condition.
"Be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind . . ." means that you can be changed or transformed from your present condition by putting a new thought, a new state of consciousness, into your mind.
In other words, you can change your life from whatever it is right now (this world) to anything you want it to be, by changing your thinking, your frame of reference about yourself.
Taking the first and second universal laws of success together, the first law says that your experience of life depends on your thinking. The second law provides that the life you are experiencing right now can be changed by changing your thinking.
Some people seem to be successful in whatever they do. It doesn’t seem to matter which political party is in charge, or how the economy as a whole is doing. Because they keep their thinking centered on the positive aspects of the results they wish to accomplish, they get just those results, no matter what.
The first aspect of the Universal Law of Change is faith.
"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for,
the evidence of things not seen."
"Choose this day whom you will serve . . ."
—Joshua 24:15
Every opportunity, every challenge that we experience confronts us with a choice. We choose either a positive approach (flowers), or a negative approach (weeds).
Even if we make no affirmative choice at all, an approach is selected by the world mind which, in this cycle, is generally negative.
In order for you to change your life for the better, you must affirmatively identify and specifically define what a better life means to you.
And you must choose to pursue this better life you have defined for yourself, and make the changes in your thinking and acting that will bring it about.
"And be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind . . ."
—Romans 12:2
"Be not conformed to this world . . ." means that you are not locked in to whatever circumstances, situations, associations, challenges and so on that exists in your life right now. You do not have to remain in your present condition.
"Be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind . . ." means that you can be changed or transformed from your present condition by putting a new thought, a new state of consciousness, into your mind.
In other words, you can change your life from whatever it is right now (this world) to anything you want it to be, by changing your thinking, your frame of reference about yourself.
Taking the first and second universal laws of success together, the first law says that your experience of life depends on your thinking. The second law provides that the life you are experiencing right now can be changed by changing your thinking.
Some people seem to be successful in whatever they do. It doesn’t seem to matter which political party is in charge, or how the economy as a whole is doing. Because they keep their thinking centered on the positive aspects of the results they wish to accomplish, they get just those results, no matter what.
The Universal Law of Change Has
Three Fundamental Aspects: Faith, Choice and Desire.
The first aspect of the Universal Law of Change is faith.
Faith is defined as a firm belief or trust in something or someone, generally for which there is no objective proof. It is a belief from which all doubt has been removed. The biblical definition of faith makes it very clear:
"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for,
the evidence of things not seen."
—Hebrews 11:1
In order to bring about change in your life, you must have faith that such change is possible. No matter how negative your situation, how absolutely overwhelming it may appear to be, if you have faith that things will get better, that there is something better for you in this life, then you have taken the first step toward finding it.
If you have doubts that your life can change for the better, then you’re right, it can’t. You must know, believe and have total faith that you are the creation of the God Head (God Consciousness), endowed with certain inalienable rights to be healthy, happy, and totally fulfilled.
The second aspect of the Universal Law of Change is choice.
"Choose this day whom you will serve . . ."
—Joshua 24:15
Every opportunity, every challenge that we experience confronts us with a choice. We choose either a positive approach (flowers), or a negative approach (weeds).
Even if we make no affirmative choice at all, an approach is selected by the world mind which, in this cycle, is generally negative.
In order for you to change your life for the better, you must affirmatively identify and specifically define what a better life means to you.
And you must choose to pursue this better life you have defined for yourself, and make the changes in your thinking and acting that will bring it about.
The third aspect of the Universal Law of Change is desire.
The key ingredient for change is desire—burning desire. Unless there is a deep hunger, a burning desire for the changes you want to bring about in your life, these changes will not happen.
Once upon a time, in a place not far away, a diligent student questioned his master teacher on the meaning of deep desire. The teacher took the eager student down to the ocean and walked out into the water until it was nearly chest high.
He then took the student and held his head under water for almost a minute. As the student began to struggle, craving for air, the teacher continued to hold him firmly under the water until the young student’s body became limp.
Then, within seconds of drowning the student, the teacher pulled his head out of the water as he gasped for a life saving breath of air.
If your life is not the way you want it to be, then know that you can do better. Choose a positive, empowering approach to doing better. Desire this change in your life so badly that nothing and no one can stop you from achieving it. And, it will happen. You will have the better life you are seeking.
If it’s that easy, why are there not more successful people in the world? What is it that keeps people from making the changes in their life that they know must be made in order to become the person they would like to be, and experience the better life they are seeking?
Saturday, May 12, 2007
Where's the Late-Night?
From Nightclub & Bar
The last notes of a concert in Vegas are often followed by the question of, “Where do we go now?” Well, marketing manager of the Rainbow Bar & Grill, Mark Hornsby, set out to make sure his venue was the obvious answer.
He got together with Music Artist Development and Marketing, or M.A.D.a.M., and began setting up after-hours parties at the Rainbow for the musicians to meet and hang out with their adoring fans at the close of each concert.
“This place is designed perfectly for after parties,” Hornsby says of the venue. “The place only holds 600, so we are careful with what we choose. We try to keep it controllable, with medium-sized bands that are still pretty famous.”
M.A.D.a.M. does a large percentage of the work for each party by contacting the band’s label and setting up the Rainbow to reflect the artist of the night in attendance. “They are a huge help and really professional,” Hornsby says.
“They go to the show, greet the bands and the managers and let them know what’s going on. Then, they come to the venue and style it. They get stuff from the label to dress it up, and we stantion off a VIP section for the band. These guys have been so easy, there really are no challenges.”
The last notes of a concert in Vegas are often followed by the question of, “Where do we go now?” Well, marketing manager of the Rainbow Bar & Grill, Mark Hornsby, set out to make sure his venue was the obvious answer.
He got together with Music Artist Development and Marketing, or M.A.D.a.M., and began setting up after-hours parties at the Rainbow for the musicians to meet and hang out with their adoring fans at the close of each concert.
“This place is designed perfectly for after parties,” Hornsby says of the venue. “The place only holds 600, so we are careful with what we choose. We try to keep it controllable, with medium-sized bands that are still pretty famous.”
M.A.D.a.M. does a large percentage of the work for each party by contacting the band’s label and setting up the Rainbow to reflect the artist of the night in attendance. “They are a huge help and really professional,” Hornsby says.
“They go to the show, greet the bands and the managers and let them know what’s going on. Then, they come to the venue and style it. They get stuff from the label to dress it up, and we stantion off a VIP section for the band. These guys have been so easy, there really are no challenges.”
Friday, May 11, 2007
Children Softly Addicted
By: Judith Wright
We are raising a generation of little addicts, and most parents dont realize the scope of the problem or how theyre contributing to it. Im not suggesting that most of our children are becoming drug addicts or alcoholics.
Instead, theyre falling into "soft addiction" routines that rob them of the time and energy to pursue more meaningful activities.Soft addictions are any chronic, mindless behavior or mood.
Very obvious ones are watching TV, eating too much, surfing the internet and video game playing. But numerous other possibilities existspreading rumors, daydreaming, exercising, pitying oneself, shopping etcetera.
Nearly all parents are not upset by this type of conduct, assuming rightly that theyre "normal". They become abnormal and harm your children's development once they settle into routines, robbing kids of the time, energy and incentive to engage in more significant activities.
All children require alone time to reflect and explore. They require the freedom to contemplate whats important in their lives and to master knowledge and talents that will allow them to achieve their goals.
Soft addictions are enemies of reflection, exploration and skill development.The media has documented the epidemic spread of soft addictions. Report after report show that kids are spending more time than ever before sitting in front of computers, TV's and video game screens.
Similar researchers have found that a shocking percentage of overweight children who are softly devoted to junk food and fast food restaurants, obsessed with celebrity worship and fanatical about shopping is also rising.
Parents can have perspective and need to be responsible for helping their kids manage these addictions. Too often, they model the very behaviors that encourage their children to fall into soft routines instead.
For instance, a great majorit of parents come to their house from a day of work and use the majority of their leisure hours watching TV, they eat too much and some exercise compulsively, unwilling to miss their exercise routine even when they are desperately needed elsewhere.
There are also parents who model rumor-spreading behaviors, spending hours each week writing and calling friends to get the juice on who is doing what. Im definitely not saying that parents or their kids quit all their soft addictions at once.
Most of us have a few soft addictions. Living a meaningful life is possible when these activities are part of our life, however, they need to be a minor rather than a major part. We help many adults who admit the same exact thing about their lives: "There must be more than this."
There is, but they will not discover it unless they use their time and energy on more conscious, meaningful activities. This does not mean they must to try and save the earth and sacrifice all their time in soup kitchens feeding the hungry (even though these are great activities).
Rediscovering the art of conversation, spending time with friends and loved ones, going for walks in the woods, expressing their feelings to those they care about, listening to inspirational musicall these things can add meaning.
Just as important, it can give a healthy behavioral model for their kids. Kids are great copycats, and softly-addicted parents generally create softly-addicted kids.
Its terribly hard for parents to tell their children to quit watching endless amounts of TV when they're guilty of the exact same type of mindless, habitual behaviors.
Parents will find however, that if they learn to spend their time more meaningfully, their own lives will be more satisfying and theyll help make more satisfying lives for their kids.
Judith Wright is an internationally recognized author, speaker, educator, life coach, and seminar leader. She teaches workshops on overcoming soft addictions and creating "More" for 12 years. You can contact her through her Web site at www.theremustbemore.com. See also Massive Personal Growth
We are raising a generation of little addicts, and most parents dont realize the scope of the problem or how theyre contributing to it. Im not suggesting that most of our children are becoming drug addicts or alcoholics.
Instead, theyre falling into "soft addiction" routines that rob them of the time and energy to pursue more meaningful activities.Soft addictions are any chronic, mindless behavior or mood.
Very obvious ones are watching TV, eating too much, surfing the internet and video game playing. But numerous other possibilities existspreading rumors, daydreaming, exercising, pitying oneself, shopping etcetera.
Nearly all parents are not upset by this type of conduct, assuming rightly that theyre "normal". They become abnormal and harm your children's development once they settle into routines, robbing kids of the time, energy and incentive to engage in more significant activities.
All children require alone time to reflect and explore. They require the freedom to contemplate whats important in their lives and to master knowledge and talents that will allow them to achieve their goals.
Soft addictions are enemies of reflection, exploration and skill development.The media has documented the epidemic spread of soft addictions. Report after report show that kids are spending more time than ever before sitting in front of computers, TV's and video game screens.
Similar researchers have found that a shocking percentage of overweight children who are softly devoted to junk food and fast food restaurants, obsessed with celebrity worship and fanatical about shopping is also rising.
Parents can have perspective and need to be responsible for helping their kids manage these addictions. Too often, they model the very behaviors that encourage their children to fall into soft routines instead.
For instance, a great majorit of parents come to their house from a day of work and use the majority of their leisure hours watching TV, they eat too much and some exercise compulsively, unwilling to miss their exercise routine even when they are desperately needed elsewhere.
There are also parents who model rumor-spreading behaviors, spending hours each week writing and calling friends to get the juice on who is doing what. Im definitely not saying that parents or their kids quit all their soft addictions at once.
Most of us have a few soft addictions. Living a meaningful life is possible when these activities are part of our life, however, they need to be a minor rather than a major part. We help many adults who admit the same exact thing about their lives: "There must be more than this."
There is, but they will not discover it unless they use their time and energy on more conscious, meaningful activities. This does not mean they must to try and save the earth and sacrifice all their time in soup kitchens feeding the hungry (even though these are great activities).
Rediscovering the art of conversation, spending time with friends and loved ones, going for walks in the woods, expressing their feelings to those they care about, listening to inspirational musicall these things can add meaning.
Just as important, it can give a healthy behavioral model for their kids. Kids are great copycats, and softly-addicted parents generally create softly-addicted kids.
Its terribly hard for parents to tell their children to quit watching endless amounts of TV when they're guilty of the exact same type of mindless, habitual behaviors.
Parents will find however, that if they learn to spend their time more meaningfully, their own lives will be more satisfying and theyll help make more satisfying lives for their kids.
Judith Wright is an internationally recognized author, speaker, educator, life coach, and seminar leader. She teaches workshops on overcoming soft addictions and creating "More" for 12 years. You can contact her through her Web site at www.theremustbemore.com. See also Massive Personal Growth
Your Work-From-Home Earn and Learn Online Home Business!
By: Justin Boyce
So, you’ve decided to quit the rat race and be your own boss, confident in the belief you can earn the big zylotis with your own home business working online. I mean lets be honest … we are in this for the money aren’t we and is the word ‘rich’ such a dirty word?
Well I guess ‘Yep’ if the way some of us think is anything to go by. How easy it is to label someone “lucky” just ‘cos they’ve made it.When you learn the business you earn the bucks. It’s as simple as that. Learning in itself will not result in earning.
Add action to the melting pot (read working harder/smarter) and the “luckier” you get. “Luck surely smiles on those who get out and make things happen”. Luck requires the all important ingredients … opportunity, sound planning and action.
This holds true whether you are looking to earn online or offline.Success means different things to different folk, but however we see it, it implies consistent action.
A rare attribute in a nation where less than 10% of the folk who buy a book read past the first chapter and less than 10% have any written goals in place.
Whether in business (either online or off-line), within the home, in your relationships with others or whatever, success requires effort … the right kind of effort …. consistent effort.
If you are to promote yourself and succeed in your newfound online business, then seek out a mentor and model yourself on them.
Not someone who just happens to be handy … a major mistake, yet how often do we do it …but someone who truly knows success through consistent action that delivers results. I know of no surer way to attach that ‘dirty’ word to your own persona.
Observe McDonalds - arguable as to whether they produce the world’s best burgers … but do they consistently deliver the same business model throughout their network? Do they ever!In seeking your online business mentor look beyond the ‘hype’.
Are the promises and projections backed up by tangible historical evidence of measured results and can you duplicate these systems within your own online home business venture?
Have you found that special mentor yet who will assist you to develop and promote your business thus ensuring you maximize potential to earn online ‘bigtime’? Justin Boyce is the editor of the Work from Home business guide.
One of the most promiment websites for its keyphrases in the search results regardless of locality. If you have found the content of this article to be of interest, then you may well wish to visit our ‘one of a kind’ online educational program. http://www.nzpcs.co.nz
So, you’ve decided to quit the rat race and be your own boss, confident in the belief you can earn the big zylotis with your own home business working online. I mean lets be honest … we are in this for the money aren’t we and is the word ‘rich’ such a dirty word?
Well I guess ‘Yep’ if the way some of us think is anything to go by. How easy it is to label someone “lucky” just ‘cos they’ve made it.When you learn the business you earn the bucks. It’s as simple as that. Learning in itself will not result in earning.
Add action to the melting pot (read working harder/smarter) and the “luckier” you get. “Luck surely smiles on those who get out and make things happen”. Luck requires the all important ingredients … opportunity, sound planning and action.
This holds true whether you are looking to earn online or offline.Success means different things to different folk, but however we see it, it implies consistent action.
A rare attribute in a nation where less than 10% of the folk who buy a book read past the first chapter and less than 10% have any written goals in place.
Whether in business (either online or off-line), within the home, in your relationships with others or whatever, success requires effort … the right kind of effort …. consistent effort.
If you are to promote yourself and succeed in your newfound online business, then seek out a mentor and model yourself on them.
Not someone who just happens to be handy … a major mistake, yet how often do we do it …but someone who truly knows success through consistent action that delivers results. I know of no surer way to attach that ‘dirty’ word to your own persona.
Observe McDonalds - arguable as to whether they produce the world’s best burgers … but do they consistently deliver the same business model throughout their network? Do they ever!In seeking your online business mentor look beyond the ‘hype’.
Are the promises and projections backed up by tangible historical evidence of measured results and can you duplicate these systems within your own online home business venture?
Have you found that special mentor yet who will assist you to develop and promote your business thus ensuring you maximize potential to earn online ‘bigtime’? Justin Boyce is the editor of the Work from Home business guide.
One of the most promiment websites for its keyphrases in the search results regardless of locality. If you have found the content of this article to be of interest, then you may well wish to visit our ‘one of a kind’ online educational program. http://www.nzpcs.co.nz
If You "Try", You Will Fail - Learn How You Can Succeed Using Intention
By Greg Nicholls
“I will try”
“I will give it a shot”
“Let’s try this out”
“I will try my best”
“I will try harder next time”
All of these simple statements are the beginning of failure, you know, we have all used them. Now learn about how you can always win.
The word “try” is like saying “maybe”, or “I am not sure”, or "who knows"; basically giving yourself an opportunity to give up-front blame on whatever it is you are going to do. When you do this, you are not taking personal responsibility for the outcome.
This way, if you fail, you can say “at least I tried”.
Losers “try”…
Winners intend to succeed at whatever they put their mind to.
Intention is the key!
When you have finished reading this article, begin to listen to people and to yourself; when you hear someone, or yourself say that "I am going to try”, take a read to see if the intention is really on succeeding no matter what.
I think that most people use this word innocently, because they were encouraged to “try” things by their parents when they were little.
“Here, try some Broccoli, maybe you will like it.”
“Why don’t you try out for the team?”
“Try to do your best.”
Your parents did not want you to feel bad for failing, so they gave you an out, a way you could redeem yourself if you did not succeed. However, when you grew up, you kept using it for yourself.
Think about this for a moment; you are on a plane and about to take off and the pilot comes over the speakers and says: “Good afternoon passengers, this is your Captain speaking, we are going to try to fly the plane to our destination today.
I know the mechanics tried their best when working on the plane so let’s see if we can make it there.”
~Or~
You are about to go in for Heart Surgery and the Surgeon says: “We are going to try to fix your heart, let’s see if this works, all we can do is give it a shot.”
You would be screaming to get off the plane and you would be leaving the hospital, right?
So what is the difference if you are running around and talking about “trying”?
“Trying” is a copout; a losers way to approach something.
The Pilot always says: “We will be arriving at our destination at 2:00.”
The Surgeon always says: “We will have you fixed up and back to normal in no time.”
Why?
It is their intention; they intend to succeed, if they did not intend to succeed, then they should not be doing their job. Their intention sets in their mind a single outcome and that outcome is success at what they are setting out to do, no other options exist.
So let’s decide to make decisions with the intention to succeed; do not enter into any decision lightly. We will make our decisions quickly and decide to win at whatever we intend to do.
“I will try”
“I will give it a shot”
“Let’s try this out”
“I will try my best”
“I will try harder next time”
All of these simple statements are the beginning of failure, you know, we have all used them. Now learn about how you can always win.
The word “try” is like saying “maybe”, or “I am not sure”, or "who knows"; basically giving yourself an opportunity to give up-front blame on whatever it is you are going to do. When you do this, you are not taking personal responsibility for the outcome.
This way, if you fail, you can say “at least I tried”.
Losers “try”…
Winners intend to succeed at whatever they put their mind to.
Intention is the key!
When you have finished reading this article, begin to listen to people and to yourself; when you hear someone, or yourself say that "I am going to try”, take a read to see if the intention is really on succeeding no matter what.
I think that most people use this word innocently, because they were encouraged to “try” things by their parents when they were little.
“Here, try some Broccoli, maybe you will like it.”
“Why don’t you try out for the team?”
“Try to do your best.”
Your parents did not want you to feel bad for failing, so they gave you an out, a way you could redeem yourself if you did not succeed. However, when you grew up, you kept using it for yourself.
Think about this for a moment; you are on a plane and about to take off and the pilot comes over the speakers and says: “Good afternoon passengers, this is your Captain speaking, we are going to try to fly the plane to our destination today.
I know the mechanics tried their best when working on the plane so let’s see if we can make it there.”
~Or~
You are about to go in for Heart Surgery and the Surgeon says: “We are going to try to fix your heart, let’s see if this works, all we can do is give it a shot.”
You would be screaming to get off the plane and you would be leaving the hospital, right?
So what is the difference if you are running around and talking about “trying”?
“Trying” is a copout; a losers way to approach something.
The Pilot always says: “We will be arriving at our destination at 2:00.”
The Surgeon always says: “We will have you fixed up and back to normal in no time.”
Why?
It is their intention; they intend to succeed, if they did not intend to succeed, then they should not be doing their job. Their intention sets in their mind a single outcome and that outcome is success at what they are setting out to do, no other options exist.
So let’s decide to make decisions with the intention to succeed; do not enter into any decision lightly. We will make our decisions quickly and decide to win at whatever we intend to do.
How You Can Attract More Money Into Your Life - Simple Principles You Need To Know Now
By Greg Nicholls
Imagine some Money...
$100,000.00 worth...just sitting in $100 bills on the table in front of you, wrapped in $10,000.00 bundels. Having money in your life effortlessly and in abundance or, having to suffer by it in your life is a decision.
To have money, you have to believe that you deserve money. In order to develop your belief, you have to know that it is attainable for you. To know that it is attainable, you only need to know that others have made money before you.
You actually know that others before you have made money because of what it has provided for them, the houses, cars, boats, trips, etc.
Does money buy happiness?
Well no... but it does take care of most of the things that create unhappiness and stress.
Every time you have had money troubles, it was because you were thinking about needing money, not what money provides.
If you are feeling desparate for money, that is the suffering that money does not want to be around, so it stays away from you and as a result, you will attract more desperation instead.
Think about it...
would you want to be around someone that cries, complains, pines about you?
Heck no!
Neither does money!
Money wants to be in a fun and friendly environment, a place that it is welcome.
Money is a tool that is created and attracted by energy and can provide for you whatever your heart desires.
Are you into charity?
Would you like to contribute enough money to find a cure for something?
How about build houses for the poor, or feed a hungry country?
Well create a happy welcome environment in your life that welcomes money into it with open arms and wallets. If money is accepted into your life, it will want to hang around and more of it will be attracted to you. If you reject it as soon as you get it, why should it keep coming back?
Think about it.
To get past money troubles, one has to believe that money will come to provide the environment where love, happiness, gratitude, integrity, joy and charity are a result of it being there.
So, welcome money into your life; know you deserve money in your life and decide to do great things with it and it will positively affect your life and the lives of people around you.
Start to say "I love money for what money provides and I deserve money."
Imagine some Money...
$100,000.00 worth...just sitting in $100 bills on the table in front of you, wrapped in $10,000.00 bundels. Having money in your life effortlessly and in abundance or, having to suffer by it in your life is a decision.
To have money, you have to believe that you deserve money. In order to develop your belief, you have to know that it is attainable for you. To know that it is attainable, you only need to know that others have made money before you.
You actually know that others before you have made money because of what it has provided for them, the houses, cars, boats, trips, etc.
Does money buy happiness?
Well no... but it does take care of most of the things that create unhappiness and stress.
Every time you have had money troubles, it was because you were thinking about needing money, not what money provides.
If you are feeling desparate for money, that is the suffering that money does not want to be around, so it stays away from you and as a result, you will attract more desperation instead.
Think about it...
would you want to be around someone that cries, complains, pines about you?
Heck no!
Neither does money!
Money wants to be in a fun and friendly environment, a place that it is welcome.
Money is a tool that is created and attracted by energy and can provide for you whatever your heart desires.
Are you into charity?
Would you like to contribute enough money to find a cure for something?
How about build houses for the poor, or feed a hungry country?
Well create a happy welcome environment in your life that welcomes money into it with open arms and wallets. If money is accepted into your life, it will want to hang around and more of it will be attracted to you. If you reject it as soon as you get it, why should it keep coming back?
Think about it.
To get past money troubles, one has to believe that money will come to provide the environment where love, happiness, gratitude, integrity, joy and charity are a result of it being there.
So, welcome money into your life; know you deserve money in your life and decide to do great things with it and it will positively affect your life and the lives of people around you.
Start to say "I love money for what money provides and I deserve money."
Coming in from the Heat
From Nightclub & Bar
The (Summer) Games People Play
Throughout summer months, the 6-year-old concept Rue 13 in St. Louis, Mo., relies heavily on its air-conditioning system and a few other machines inside to keep patrons happy and profits cool.
The two pool tables, a Big Buck Hunter stand-up game and the three Mega Touch machines bring in over $1000 a month during the hottest season, and Marketing Director Doug Hall says that profits, like the summer heat, aren’t going anywhere.
In fact, the venue is poised to add Silver Strike Bowling in the near future to their already sizzling lineup.
Curing Lag Time
Rue 13 is an eclectic place. In Hall’s own words, it started as a “French contemporary Martini and sushi lounge,” that has become known for different theme nights ranging from burlesque to totally 80s.
In the summer, the patio draws a crowd as diverse as the décor and food offerings –– with guests from 21- to 40-years old considering themselves regulars. Hall says the prolific game offerings definitely help during the steamy months, sometimes in ways they didn’t anticipate.
“I would say that the biggest obstacle in the summer season is covering that void between patio hours and late night,” Hall says. “There is that little lag time in between that I guess is right around twilight.
If our crowd starts to dissipate, a few of the stragglers are always held in by the games. It really helps the transition into the night hours.”
Benefits Galore
“The best part of the whole situation,” Hall says, “is that we work with a vendor. So, it doesn’t cost us anything to maintain, and there is no up-front cost. We don’t pay for the machine, and the guy comes in every week, opens them up, and we take half, and he gets the other.”
Almost all gaming companies are run on similar programs, so there really is no reason for an operator with ample space to add a few. Another bonus, Hall says, is the profitable ties between the Mega Touch machines and added drink sales.
At Rue 13, the management placed them directly on the bar where bartenders can continue business while patrons are playing. “They are literally point-of-sale and right on top of the registers,” he says.
“It keeps some patrons on-premise sometimes as much as an hour to an hour and a half longer than they would be. Also, we don’t have to get change for the register anymore. Every week, when that guy clears out the machines, we have quarters to cover the weekends.”
Finally, Hall says that at Rue 13, the machines don’t just make happy customers. They make happy employees, as well. Hall says his staff stays after long shifts to play, thus putting some of their own tips back into Rue 13.
“We promote the pool tables on our Happy Hour flyers,” he says. “We have now implemented free pool in the summer to pull in more customers. But the other games like the Big Buck Hunter, the Mega Touch machines and, hopefully soon, the Silver Strike Bowling, just sell themselves.”
The (Summer) Games People Play
Throughout summer months, the 6-year-old concept Rue 13 in St. Louis, Mo., relies heavily on its air-conditioning system and a few other machines inside to keep patrons happy and profits cool.
The two pool tables, a Big Buck Hunter stand-up game and the three Mega Touch machines bring in over $1000 a month during the hottest season, and Marketing Director Doug Hall says that profits, like the summer heat, aren’t going anywhere.
In fact, the venue is poised to add Silver Strike Bowling in the near future to their already sizzling lineup.
Curing Lag Time
Rue 13 is an eclectic place. In Hall’s own words, it started as a “French contemporary Martini and sushi lounge,” that has become known for different theme nights ranging from burlesque to totally 80s.
In the summer, the patio draws a crowd as diverse as the décor and food offerings –– with guests from 21- to 40-years old considering themselves regulars. Hall says the prolific game offerings definitely help during the steamy months, sometimes in ways they didn’t anticipate.
“I would say that the biggest obstacle in the summer season is covering that void between patio hours and late night,” Hall says. “There is that little lag time in between that I guess is right around twilight.
If our crowd starts to dissipate, a few of the stragglers are always held in by the games. It really helps the transition into the night hours.”
Benefits Galore
“The best part of the whole situation,” Hall says, “is that we work with a vendor. So, it doesn’t cost us anything to maintain, and there is no up-front cost. We don’t pay for the machine, and the guy comes in every week, opens them up, and we take half, and he gets the other.”
Almost all gaming companies are run on similar programs, so there really is no reason for an operator with ample space to add a few. Another bonus, Hall says, is the profitable ties between the Mega Touch machines and added drink sales.
At Rue 13, the management placed them directly on the bar where bartenders can continue business while patrons are playing. “They are literally point-of-sale and right on top of the registers,” he says.
“It keeps some patrons on-premise sometimes as much as an hour to an hour and a half longer than they would be. Also, we don’t have to get change for the register anymore. Every week, when that guy clears out the machines, we have quarters to cover the weekends.”
Finally, Hall says that at Rue 13, the machines don’t just make happy customers. They make happy employees, as well. Hall says his staff stays after long shifts to play, thus putting some of their own tips back into Rue 13.
“We promote the pool tables on our Happy Hour flyers,” he says. “We have now implemented free pool in the summer to pull in more customers. But the other games like the Big Buck Hunter, the Mega Touch machines and, hopefully soon, the Silver Strike Bowling, just sell themselves.”
New Versions of the Cosmopolitan Are Alive and Shaking In Bars Everywhere
From Nightclub & Bar
It is plain what makes a Cosmopolitan. It is not defined what makes a twist on the old classic, however. Does one need a permanent hand on the bottle of cranberry juice?
Is a monogamous relationship with vodka an absolute deal breaker? Can you concede your Cointreau and give up the garnish and still claim some half of the designation?
2720’s Approach
“Our Cosmopolitan sales have doubled since the implementation of the signature recipes,” Jeff Jenkins, owner of 2720 in Hot Springs, Ark., says.
“The standard Cosmo does well and did well before, but the other options weren’t available. Whenever someone asks for a Cosmo, the first question to them from my staff is, ‘Have your tried our blueberry twist on the Cosmo called The Micropolitan?"
Jenkins tallies his Micropolitan sales at about 31 percent of all Cosmopolitan sales during a good weekend. The name and marketing are half the battle once a good drink is designed, and it is a battle Jenkins is obviously winning.
“I have targeted a Thursday night promotion with the Cosmo and Martini variations,” he says. “My tHERsdays promotion is a Ladies Night event with $2 specials on these drinks. It has worked very well.
“The majority of our recipes were developed by my bartenders, so they are the key and do an excellent job of getting the word out on ‘their’ drinks,” Jenkins says. “I have even offered incentive bonuses to them if they meet a certain quota on these drinks.”
Metro’s Variations
At Metro!, a contemporary lounge and high-end dining establishment in Roanoke, Va., Restaurant Manager Michelle Pauley says that they get by with limited marketing now that their signature Cosmopolitan twists have become staples on the menu, after four years of showcasing.
She and Owner Andy Schlosser still focus heavily on presentation, garnish and names with personality for consistent sales. “People love the classic Cosmo. For us, our changes are just slight differences,” Pauley says.
“Instead of using regular cranberry juice, we use white cranberry, and it changes the look and the dynamic of the drink.” Further enticing are the dried cranberries dropped in the bottom of the glass, leaking a sliver of pink as they absorb the liquor.
A huge seller in both the restaurant and the lounge is a drink entitled the Marilyn Monroetini. “The Marilyn,” Pauley says, “is a traditional Cosmo, but we do Grey Goose Citron, and we add Champagne to make it bubbly and fun ... I think the Champagne adds more of a festive flair.”
It is plain what makes a Cosmopolitan. It is not defined what makes a twist on the old classic, however. Does one need a permanent hand on the bottle of cranberry juice?
Is a monogamous relationship with vodka an absolute deal breaker? Can you concede your Cointreau and give up the garnish and still claim some half of the designation?
2720’s Approach
“Our Cosmopolitan sales have doubled since the implementation of the signature recipes,” Jeff Jenkins, owner of 2720 in Hot Springs, Ark., says.
“The standard Cosmo does well and did well before, but the other options weren’t available. Whenever someone asks for a Cosmo, the first question to them from my staff is, ‘Have your tried our blueberry twist on the Cosmo called The Micropolitan?"
Jenkins tallies his Micropolitan sales at about 31 percent of all Cosmopolitan sales during a good weekend. The name and marketing are half the battle once a good drink is designed, and it is a battle Jenkins is obviously winning.
“I have targeted a Thursday night promotion with the Cosmo and Martini variations,” he says. “My tHERsdays promotion is a Ladies Night event with $2 specials on these drinks. It has worked very well.
“The majority of our recipes were developed by my bartenders, so they are the key and do an excellent job of getting the word out on ‘their’ drinks,” Jenkins says. “I have even offered incentive bonuses to them if they meet a certain quota on these drinks.”
Metro’s Variations
At Metro!, a contemporary lounge and high-end dining establishment in Roanoke, Va., Restaurant Manager Michelle Pauley says that they get by with limited marketing now that their signature Cosmopolitan twists have become staples on the menu, after four years of showcasing.
She and Owner Andy Schlosser still focus heavily on presentation, garnish and names with personality for consistent sales. “People love the classic Cosmo. For us, our changes are just slight differences,” Pauley says.
“Instead of using regular cranberry juice, we use white cranberry, and it changes the look and the dynamic of the drink.” Further enticing are the dried cranberries dropped in the bottom of the glass, leaking a sliver of pink as they absorb the liquor.
A huge seller in both the restaurant and the lounge is a drink entitled the Marilyn Monroetini. “The Marilyn,” Pauley says, “is a traditional Cosmo, but we do Grey Goose Citron, and we add Champagne to make it bubbly and fun ... I think the Champagne adds more of a festive flair.”
Thursday, May 10, 2007
Best Teeth Whitening will enable you to get desired effects
By: brad taylor
Who does not wish to have healthy and shining white teeth? In fact, every individual likes to have such smile that fetches compliments. And if one does not have teeth like they want, then they would do all efforts to get that preferred look.
Best teeth whitening is one such effort that acts as the source of not only whitening your teeth, but making them healthier than before. Healthy and perfect teeth are a source of healthier life and this is known by all those people who have undergone best teeth whitening process.
The main aim of teeth whitening procedures is to improve the color of your teeth and make them whiter. Dental defects are such a problem that keeps you away from social gatherings. How awkward it looks that you have stained yellow teeth when you smile.
This will not create a good impression and other people will shrink from coming near to you or sometimes even talking to you. In such case, best teeth whitening process is quite helpful in giving you the desired results.
There are numerous teeth whitening methods available in the market that can be selected as per your convenience. If you don’t feel like visiting a dentist or do not have enough time for this, then teeth whitening toothpaste can be used regularly for getting that whiteness.
Though it will take a bit longer time than a dentist’s treatment, still you can save your time of running to the dentist. The present scenario is that people have started taking too much of tobacco, coffee or have started smoking to a great extent.
All these things have become responsible for the stains that appear on the teeth and even their discoloring. Well, such dental defects are not that hazardous that they cannot be treated. Best teeth whitening methods are an answer to this.
Use of teeth whitening bleach is another method that is usually undertaken at a professional dentist’s clinic. The bleach contains certain amount of peroxides that help in removing yellowish stains and enhancing the color of your teeth.
As per the condition of the patient, the dentist uses the amount of bleach. Among numerous best teeth whitening methods, in-house teeth whitening kits are available in the market. Such kits have plates that are generally fixed to the teeth and they contain the gel that comes within the kit.
Be it any method that you use, the main thing is that you should have such bright teeth which add to your looks. There is a lot of difference in the time that will take to bring out the desired effects in the different methods; still the efficiency of a perfectionist is in its hands only.
What wonders a professional doctor can do to your smile; you won’t be able to do that on your own. Best teeth whitening methods will not only help the patients to get healthy teeth, but recover that lost confidence to face further things in life that has been vanished due to bad looking teeth.
Being health conscious has become a walk of life for people these days. No one likes to lead an unhealthy life accompanied with many ailments. As everyone knows that their teeth add to the looks of your face, so people keep on adopting best teeth whitening methods to get rid off their problems.
Brad Taylor has special interest in health related topics. He has been working for rubinsteindmd since the last 2 Years. For more information about Best teeth whitening, Cosmetic Dentistry, Instant teeth whitening and Dental Veneers visit www.rubinsteindmd.com
Who does not wish to have healthy and shining white teeth? In fact, every individual likes to have such smile that fetches compliments. And if one does not have teeth like they want, then they would do all efforts to get that preferred look.
Best teeth whitening is one such effort that acts as the source of not only whitening your teeth, but making them healthier than before. Healthy and perfect teeth are a source of healthier life and this is known by all those people who have undergone best teeth whitening process.
The main aim of teeth whitening procedures is to improve the color of your teeth and make them whiter. Dental defects are such a problem that keeps you away from social gatherings. How awkward it looks that you have stained yellow teeth when you smile.
This will not create a good impression and other people will shrink from coming near to you or sometimes even talking to you. In such case, best teeth whitening process is quite helpful in giving you the desired results.
There are numerous teeth whitening methods available in the market that can be selected as per your convenience. If you don’t feel like visiting a dentist or do not have enough time for this, then teeth whitening toothpaste can be used regularly for getting that whiteness.
Though it will take a bit longer time than a dentist’s treatment, still you can save your time of running to the dentist. The present scenario is that people have started taking too much of tobacco, coffee or have started smoking to a great extent.
All these things have become responsible for the stains that appear on the teeth and even their discoloring. Well, such dental defects are not that hazardous that they cannot be treated. Best teeth whitening methods are an answer to this.
Use of teeth whitening bleach is another method that is usually undertaken at a professional dentist’s clinic. The bleach contains certain amount of peroxides that help in removing yellowish stains and enhancing the color of your teeth.
As per the condition of the patient, the dentist uses the amount of bleach. Among numerous best teeth whitening methods, in-house teeth whitening kits are available in the market. Such kits have plates that are generally fixed to the teeth and they contain the gel that comes within the kit.
Be it any method that you use, the main thing is that you should have such bright teeth which add to your looks. There is a lot of difference in the time that will take to bring out the desired effects in the different methods; still the efficiency of a perfectionist is in its hands only.
What wonders a professional doctor can do to your smile; you won’t be able to do that on your own. Best teeth whitening methods will not only help the patients to get healthy teeth, but recover that lost confidence to face further things in life that has been vanished due to bad looking teeth.
Being health conscious has become a walk of life for people these days. No one likes to lead an unhealthy life accompanied with many ailments. As everyone knows that their teeth add to the looks of your face, so people keep on adopting best teeth whitening methods to get rid off their problems.
Brad Taylor has special interest in health related topics. He has been working for rubinsteindmd since the last 2 Years. For more information about Best teeth whitening, Cosmetic Dentistry, Instant teeth whitening and Dental Veneers visit www.rubinsteindmd.com
Tea drinkers may have lower skin cancer risk
SOURCE: Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, May 2007
People who unwind with a cup of tea every night may have a lower risk of two common forms of skin cancer, new research suggests. In a study of nearly 2,200 adults, researchers found that tea drinkers had a lower risk of developing squamous cell or basal cell carcinoma, the two most common forms of skin cancer.
Men and women who had ever been regular tea drinkers -- having one or more cups a day -- were 20 percent to 30 percent less likely to develop the cancers than those who didn't drink tea.
The effect was even stronger among study participants who'd been tea fans for decades, as well as those who regularly had at least two cups a day, according to findings published in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology.
However, the findings do not mean it's okay to bake in the sun as long as you have a cup of tea afterward. The researchers found no evidence that tea drinking lowered skin cancer risk in people who'd accumulated painful sunburns in the past.
Nor did the study look at the relationship between tea drinking and malignant melanoma, the least common but most deadly form of skin cancer.
Still, the findings support the theory that tea antioxidants may limit the damage UV radiation inflicts on the skin, according to the study authors, led by Dr. Judy R. Rees of Dartmouth Medical School in Lebanon, New Hampshire.
In particular, a tea antioxidant known as EGCG has been shown to reduce burning on UV-exposed skin.
The current findings are based on interviews with 770 New Hampshire residents with basal cell carcinoma, 696 with squamous cell carcinoma, and 715 cancer-free men and women the same age.
Tea consumption was linked to a lower skin cancer risk, even with factors such as age, skin type and history of severe burns considered. However, tea drinkers who'd suffered multiple painful burns in the past did not have a lower risk of skin cancer.
It's possible, the researchers explain, that the antioxidants in tea are enough to limit skin damage caused by moderate sun exposure, but not the "more extreme" effects of sun exposure, such as cancer-promoting damage to the DNA in skin cells.
People who unwind with a cup of tea every night may have a lower risk of two common forms of skin cancer, new research suggests. In a study of nearly 2,200 adults, researchers found that tea drinkers had a lower risk of developing squamous cell or basal cell carcinoma, the two most common forms of skin cancer.
Men and women who had ever been regular tea drinkers -- having one or more cups a day -- were 20 percent to 30 percent less likely to develop the cancers than those who didn't drink tea.
The effect was even stronger among study participants who'd been tea fans for decades, as well as those who regularly had at least two cups a day, according to findings published in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology.
However, the findings do not mean it's okay to bake in the sun as long as you have a cup of tea afterward. The researchers found no evidence that tea drinking lowered skin cancer risk in people who'd accumulated painful sunburns in the past.
Nor did the study look at the relationship between tea drinking and malignant melanoma, the least common but most deadly form of skin cancer.
Still, the findings support the theory that tea antioxidants may limit the damage UV radiation inflicts on the skin, according to the study authors, led by Dr. Judy R. Rees of Dartmouth Medical School in Lebanon, New Hampshire.
In particular, a tea antioxidant known as EGCG has been shown to reduce burning on UV-exposed skin.
The current findings are based on interviews with 770 New Hampshire residents with basal cell carcinoma, 696 with squamous cell carcinoma, and 715 cancer-free men and women the same age.
Tea consumption was linked to a lower skin cancer risk, even with factors such as age, skin type and history of severe burns considered. However, tea drinkers who'd suffered multiple painful burns in the past did not have a lower risk of skin cancer.
It's possible, the researchers explain, that the antioxidants in tea are enough to limit skin damage caused by moderate sun exposure, but not the "more extreme" effects of sun exposure, such as cancer-promoting damage to the DNA in skin cells.
You Can Learn About A Common Trait Found In Successful People Right Now
By Greg Nicholls
Successful people have a quite a few commonalities; they are driven and focused of course, but there is another trait that often leads them to success, read on to find out what it is and to see if you have this trait.
Before I became successful, I always admired successful people, I often times unconsciously affirmed “one day I will be that successful”.
I just knew that I would be, with absolute certainty. So I started looking around to see what I could find, who I could learn from, what I would or could do to become successful.
Have you ever driven around neighbourhoods looking at houses, or better yet, estates? Have you gone into them (I would suggest at an open house or something) to see what they looked like on the inside.
Have you ever gone to the dealership to experience the car that you would one day like to have and sat in or drove the car?
Have you ever read a magazine, surfed the web, or looked at a TV commercial and wondered what it would be like to have whatever it was they advertised that you really wanted, but did not have the money for yet?
Well, you then have the same type of trait that successful people have, still wondering what it is?
Keep reading!
Successful people know that they have found the right thing, the right opportunity when they find it, but they only get there because of this one success trait that they have.
Successful people like to make up their minds quickly and change their minds slowly because they know that if they make lots of decisions, they will make lots of good decisions, more so than bad ones, but that is not what I am referring to.
I am glad you are still reading this article because you continue to demonstrate that you have the trait that successful people have, the trait is curiosity.
If successful people were not curious, they would not ask the question; what is possible? If successful people did not seek to find what was possible, being fuelled by curiosity, our lives, all of our lives, would be dramatically different.
So stay curious, seek knowledge and information until you one day find what it is you are looking for, who knows, sometimes what you are looking for is right where you are.
Curious why I make that statement? Then keep looking, you never know what you may come across.
Successful people have a quite a few commonalities; they are driven and focused of course, but there is another trait that often leads them to success, read on to find out what it is and to see if you have this trait.
Before I became successful, I always admired successful people, I often times unconsciously affirmed “one day I will be that successful”.
I just knew that I would be, with absolute certainty. So I started looking around to see what I could find, who I could learn from, what I would or could do to become successful.
Have you ever driven around neighbourhoods looking at houses, or better yet, estates? Have you gone into them (I would suggest at an open house or something) to see what they looked like on the inside.
Have you ever gone to the dealership to experience the car that you would one day like to have and sat in or drove the car?
Have you ever read a magazine, surfed the web, or looked at a TV commercial and wondered what it would be like to have whatever it was they advertised that you really wanted, but did not have the money for yet?
Well, you then have the same type of trait that successful people have, still wondering what it is?
Keep reading!
Successful people know that they have found the right thing, the right opportunity when they find it, but they only get there because of this one success trait that they have.
Successful people like to make up their minds quickly and change their minds slowly because they know that if they make lots of decisions, they will make lots of good decisions, more so than bad ones, but that is not what I am referring to.
I am glad you are still reading this article because you continue to demonstrate that you have the trait that successful people have, the trait is curiosity.
If successful people were not curious, they would not ask the question; what is possible? If successful people did not seek to find what was possible, being fuelled by curiosity, our lives, all of our lives, would be dramatically different.
So stay curious, seek knowledge and information until you one day find what it is you are looking for, who knows, sometimes what you are looking for is right where you are.
Curious why I make that statement? Then keep looking, you never know what you may come across.
Your Debt And How To Eliminate It
By Greg Nicholls
Many people these days have debt, some people more than others, in fact, some people have so much debt that they do not know how to get out of it and sometimes feel that it would be better to just fold up all their debt, claim bankruptcy and start over.
There is a word that is connected to debt that many people are not aware of, the word is Integrity. Before you incurred your debt, you made a promise to pay and you always keep your promises, right. Integrity ties into debt because debt is a promise to pay.
In most cases, nobody forced this debt on you; this debt is really just a collection of “previously enjoyed obligations”. If you are upset about the amount of debt that you have, the interest that you pay on your debt, the monthly cost to maintain your debt, etc.
The only person you have to be upset with is yourself. Before you incurred the debt, you agreed to the terms of paying back the debt, so you went into it with your eyes wide open and if you did not read the small print and got a surprise as a result, then shame on you.
Do you want to learn how to eliminate your debt? The answer is simple and if you get it, you will be amazed that you did not think about this earlier yourself. Set yourself a goal to attain, a goal that is more important to you than your debt, maybe it is a new house, a new car, a vacation, a diamond ring, whatever.
Once you have established this goal, forget about your debt and focus on your goal.
Here is why…
If you are focusing on what you want you will get it and on your way to getting it, you will pay off your debt. You see, if you are focusing only on the debt you have, you will get more of what you focus on, more debt!
There is a thing called the Law Of Attraction, this law is just as strong and constant as the Law Of Gravity. The Law Of Attraction is simple, you get what you focus on.
So, to eliminate your debt, create for yourself a purpose, a reason why you should pay it off as soon as possible, but do not consider your debt in this at all, other than with the understanding that you will pay cash for your desired goal, the debt will get paid off along the way as a result.
Be prepared for some interesting things to happen along the way.
You may have set a goal that would be almost impossible to attain with your current employment or income and if your goal is important enough to you and you focus on it instead of focusing on your debt, opportunities for you to make more money will appear right in front of you, almost like magic.
It could be a better job, you win the lottery, you decide to go out on your own and start a business, whatever. The fact is your decision to attain your goal will put in motion opportunities for you to attain it, that is how the Law Of Attraction works.
Many people these days have debt, some people more than others, in fact, some people have so much debt that they do not know how to get out of it and sometimes feel that it would be better to just fold up all their debt, claim bankruptcy and start over.
There is a word that is connected to debt that many people are not aware of, the word is Integrity. Before you incurred your debt, you made a promise to pay and you always keep your promises, right. Integrity ties into debt because debt is a promise to pay.
In most cases, nobody forced this debt on you; this debt is really just a collection of “previously enjoyed obligations”. If you are upset about the amount of debt that you have, the interest that you pay on your debt, the monthly cost to maintain your debt, etc.
The only person you have to be upset with is yourself. Before you incurred the debt, you agreed to the terms of paying back the debt, so you went into it with your eyes wide open and if you did not read the small print and got a surprise as a result, then shame on you.
Do you want to learn how to eliminate your debt? The answer is simple and if you get it, you will be amazed that you did not think about this earlier yourself. Set yourself a goal to attain, a goal that is more important to you than your debt, maybe it is a new house, a new car, a vacation, a diamond ring, whatever.
Once you have established this goal, forget about your debt and focus on your goal.
Here is why…
If you are focusing on what you want you will get it and on your way to getting it, you will pay off your debt. You see, if you are focusing only on the debt you have, you will get more of what you focus on, more debt!
There is a thing called the Law Of Attraction, this law is just as strong and constant as the Law Of Gravity. The Law Of Attraction is simple, you get what you focus on.
So, to eliminate your debt, create for yourself a purpose, a reason why you should pay it off as soon as possible, but do not consider your debt in this at all, other than with the understanding that you will pay cash for your desired goal, the debt will get paid off along the way as a result.
Be prepared for some interesting things to happen along the way.
You may have set a goal that would be almost impossible to attain with your current employment or income and if your goal is important enough to you and you focus on it instead of focusing on your debt, opportunities for you to make more money will appear right in front of you, almost like magic.
It could be a better job, you win the lottery, you decide to go out on your own and start a business, whatever. The fact is your decision to attain your goal will put in motion opportunities for you to attain it, that is how the Law Of Attraction works.
Drinks Americas' fruit drinks, liqueur sales accelerate
By Leah Vyse
Over the past three months, Drinks Americas Holdings, which manufactures beverages often associated with renowned icons, has reported a rise in sales of its Newman's Own Lightly Sparkling Fruit Juice Drinks and Waters, as well as its Damiana Liqueur.
The drinks maker said that sales have accelerated to the point that aggregate sales for the beverages for the company's 2007 fiscal year have already met or exceeded those of its 2006 fiscal year.
Drinks Americas reported that sales in January and February 2007, of Damiana, which comes in a bottle shaped like a pregnant woman, were 101% greater than those of the same month last year.
Sales of Newman's Own Sparkling Fruit beverages, meanwhile, were 18% higher than those of the entire 2006 fiscal year.Patrick Kenny, president and CEO of Drinks Americas, said: "Damiana is an authentic and iconic product from Mexico which is used as a topper for margaritas. We are now selling the product nationwide.
In addition to being a first-rate addition to any establishment's margaritas, the Damiana product has a solid and growing consumer base with the expanding Hispanic population and is growing significantly in the California and Southwestern markets in the US"
Drinks Americas develops, owns, markets, and nationally distributes alcoholic and non-alcoholic premium beverages that are often associated with renowned celebrities. Its beverage portfolio includes Donald Trump's Trump Super Premium Vodka, and Willie Nelson's Old Whiskey River Bourbon and Bourbon Cream.
Over the past three months, Drinks Americas Holdings, which manufactures beverages often associated with renowned icons, has reported a rise in sales of its Newman's Own Lightly Sparkling Fruit Juice Drinks and Waters, as well as its Damiana Liqueur.
The drinks maker said that sales have accelerated to the point that aggregate sales for the beverages for the company's 2007 fiscal year have already met or exceeded those of its 2006 fiscal year.
Drinks Americas reported that sales in January and February 2007, of Damiana, which comes in a bottle shaped like a pregnant woman, were 101% greater than those of the same month last year.
Sales of Newman's Own Sparkling Fruit beverages, meanwhile, were 18% higher than those of the entire 2006 fiscal year.Patrick Kenny, president and CEO of Drinks Americas, said: "Damiana is an authentic and iconic product from Mexico which is used as a topper for margaritas. We are now selling the product nationwide.
In addition to being a first-rate addition to any establishment's margaritas, the Damiana product has a solid and growing consumer base with the expanding Hispanic population and is growing significantly in the California and Southwestern markets in the US"
Drinks Americas develops, owns, markets, and nationally distributes alcoholic and non-alcoholic premium beverages that are often associated with renowned celebrities. Its beverage portfolio includes Donald Trump's Trump Super Premium Vodka, and Willie Nelson's Old Whiskey River Bourbon and Bourbon Cream.
E&J Gallo imports new line of South African wines
By Laura Ellis
US-based winery E&J Gallo has started importing and marketing Sebeka wine from the Western Cape of South Africa.
Gallo said the new line of wines includes Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Shiraz, a Cabernet-Pinotage blend, and a flagship proprietary blend of Shiraz and Pinotage which is labeled as Cape Blend. Pinotage is a uniquely South African grape, created more than 80 years ago by crossing Pinot Noir with Cinsault.
Swartland Winery in Malmesbury leads the Sebeka Winegrowers' Alliance, a group of wine producers in the Western Cape, to provide the wines to Gallo. Swartland general manager, George Neveling, said: "Gallo wanted a full line of top quality wines to represent the best quality and best value that South Africa has to offer.
We partnered with some of our neighbors to produce the full range of wines that Gallo was looking for."Gallo said Sebeka wines will retail for approximately $9, and will be available in restaurants and wine retail outlets across the US in 750ml cork-finished bottles.
US-based winery E&J Gallo has started importing and marketing Sebeka wine from the Western Cape of South Africa.
Gallo said the new line of wines includes Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Shiraz, a Cabernet-Pinotage blend, and a flagship proprietary blend of Shiraz and Pinotage which is labeled as Cape Blend. Pinotage is a uniquely South African grape, created more than 80 years ago by crossing Pinot Noir with Cinsault.
Swartland Winery in Malmesbury leads the Sebeka Winegrowers' Alliance, a group of wine producers in the Western Cape, to provide the wines to Gallo. Swartland general manager, George Neveling, said: "Gallo wanted a full line of top quality wines to represent the best quality and best value that South Africa has to offer.
We partnered with some of our neighbors to produce the full range of wines that Gallo was looking for."Gallo said Sebeka wines will retail for approximately $9, and will be available in restaurants and wine retail outlets across the US in 750ml cork-finished bottles.
Wednesday, May 09, 2007
How To Improve Your Interpersonal Relationships
By: Jon Arnold
Very few of us never have contact with the outside world or other people, and as a result, there is a relationship that is created whenever we interact with someone else.
As time goes on, that relationship can remain stagnant, or as in the case of a love or dating relationship, that relationship can grow and flourish.
But the real key to any meaningful relationship is effective communication between two people.
That statement is every bit as true for interpersonal relationships as it is for business relationships, and also for the marital relationship between a husband and wife.
Effective communications cannot be stressed enough, especially in a marriage relationship. In today’s world where both husband and wife are holding down at least full time if not part time jobs, things happen during the course of a normal day.
But it is only at the end of the day when two people are relaxing that effective communications can take place.
It doesn’t matter how mundane, since even in mundane conversation you can learn a lot about another person, understanding what is important to them, what irritates them, and things they find enjoyable.
Suppose your partner is depressed about something, whether financial stress, job pressures, or anything else. How much time do you give to your partner to improve the mood?
If your answer is “none or not much”, you are running the risk of your relationship starting to deteriorate.
The breakdown of a relationship does not happen overnight, but it is all these “missed opportunities” to show care, understanding, and support that all add up over time. Respect is a key ingredient of any relationship.
If you do not feel you can trust someone, your communications with them will be brief or nonexistent. There is no real relationship there.
That type of relationship may be fine for the checkout clerk at the grocery store, but how many people have that kind of relationship with their spouse?
The real answer to that question will probably scare you, but you have control over that and the fate of that relationship, even your marital relationship, rests squarely in your hands. Trust is another key element of any relationship, which goes hand in hand with respect.
You need to feel you can trust the person you are communicating with. If you don’t have a level of trust with that person, even your spouse, then your communications will reflect that lack of trust.
You won’t elaborate on things you say, you won’t go into details, and you will subconsciously leave out information that may leave you vulnerable to a future rebuttal or even attack from the other person.
Many times, especially in a marriage relationship, the three key elements of a relationship (communication, trust and respect) slowly start to erode over time. It is typically not a conscious thing, but it can happen if both spouses are not aware that they need to keep all levels of these elements at peak values consistently.
So what happens as these components start to degrade? That relationship can develop into an abusive relationship.
This is particularly difficult in a marriage relationship – when the checkout clerk at the grocery store abuses you, you can report them to their management or you can just decide to shop somewhere else.
But in a marriage relationship, it is not nearly as clear-cut at that, nor nearly as simple.
The marriage equivalent of “shopping somewhere else” is divorce, which although being a very drastic step, is sometimes the best solution for both parties when the respect, the trust, and the communications have degraded to the point where both parties are unwilling to put in enough time and effort that will be required to rebuild those elements.
Take care of your relationships and understand how you can improve them on a regular basis, and those relationships can grow and flourish over time, where you can gain comfort during the dark times and share your joys in the good times.
Jon is a computer engineer who maintains web sites on a variety of topics based on his knowledge and experience. You can read more about Relationship Advice at his web site at Relationship Advice.
Very few of us never have contact with the outside world or other people, and as a result, there is a relationship that is created whenever we interact with someone else.
As time goes on, that relationship can remain stagnant, or as in the case of a love or dating relationship, that relationship can grow and flourish.
But the real key to any meaningful relationship is effective communication between two people.
That statement is every bit as true for interpersonal relationships as it is for business relationships, and also for the marital relationship between a husband and wife.
Effective communications cannot be stressed enough, especially in a marriage relationship. In today’s world where both husband and wife are holding down at least full time if not part time jobs, things happen during the course of a normal day.
But it is only at the end of the day when two people are relaxing that effective communications can take place.
It doesn’t matter how mundane, since even in mundane conversation you can learn a lot about another person, understanding what is important to them, what irritates them, and things they find enjoyable.
Suppose your partner is depressed about something, whether financial stress, job pressures, or anything else. How much time do you give to your partner to improve the mood?
If your answer is “none or not much”, you are running the risk of your relationship starting to deteriorate.
The breakdown of a relationship does not happen overnight, but it is all these “missed opportunities” to show care, understanding, and support that all add up over time. Respect is a key ingredient of any relationship.
If you do not feel you can trust someone, your communications with them will be brief or nonexistent. There is no real relationship there.
That type of relationship may be fine for the checkout clerk at the grocery store, but how many people have that kind of relationship with their spouse?
The real answer to that question will probably scare you, but you have control over that and the fate of that relationship, even your marital relationship, rests squarely in your hands. Trust is another key element of any relationship, which goes hand in hand with respect.
You need to feel you can trust the person you are communicating with. If you don’t have a level of trust with that person, even your spouse, then your communications will reflect that lack of trust.
You won’t elaborate on things you say, you won’t go into details, and you will subconsciously leave out information that may leave you vulnerable to a future rebuttal or even attack from the other person.
Many times, especially in a marriage relationship, the three key elements of a relationship (communication, trust and respect) slowly start to erode over time. It is typically not a conscious thing, but it can happen if both spouses are not aware that they need to keep all levels of these elements at peak values consistently.
So what happens as these components start to degrade? That relationship can develop into an abusive relationship.
This is particularly difficult in a marriage relationship – when the checkout clerk at the grocery store abuses you, you can report them to their management or you can just decide to shop somewhere else.
But in a marriage relationship, it is not nearly as clear-cut at that, nor nearly as simple.
The marriage equivalent of “shopping somewhere else” is divorce, which although being a very drastic step, is sometimes the best solution for both parties when the respect, the trust, and the communications have degraded to the point where both parties are unwilling to put in enough time and effort that will be required to rebuild those elements.
Take care of your relationships and understand how you can improve them on a regular basis, and those relationships can grow and flourish over time, where you can gain comfort during the dark times and share your joys in the good times.
Jon is a computer engineer who maintains web sites on a variety of topics based on his knowledge and experience. You can read more about Relationship Advice at his web site at Relationship Advice.
Make Money With eBay, Ad sense, and Click bank
By: Ashim Tamang
Get Rich Quick Scams Revealed
Everybody would love to make lots of money quickly, working from home, and only doing a few hours of work per week. I've spent the past two years trying to find a great way of doing this.
Only over the course of the past few months have I found any "get rich quick" programs worth buying. I've been trying to make money online for a long time. I had a few small websites, but they never made much more than a few hundred per month.
It was easy money and didn't require much work on my part, but I knew there were people out there doing better than I was and I knew I could do as well as them. Now, I've seen a lot of "get rich quick" programs.
Most of these people make claims about earning $2000/day with Google or something similarly insane. Almost all of these people are complete liars. Even if they were making $2000/day with Google AdSense, it'd be because they had high- traffic websites with a lot of quality content.
I'd know, because in one whole month, I never even made half of what they promised I'd make daily with their programs. Maybe you've already been scammed by one of these fraudsters. Anyway, I finally got sick of what was being offered.
I decided I'd look through the all of the "get rich quick" programs I could find and see if there were any that were actually legitimate. I found that there were owners selling their programs for well over $100, but the information in them could be found almost anywhere online for free.
Additionally, they all contained out-of-date information, had no e-mail support, no money back guarantees, and broken links in the downloads section. In conclusion, almost all of the programs I found were completely useless.
The owners knew it, but they couldn't care less about their customers since they didn't offer refund policies! Amazingly, while looking through all of the programs, I actually did find a few legitimate programs.
They were run by ordinary people like you and me, and they had found some great methods of making money from their home by doing very little work. I spent some time working with those programs, and my income is now ten times what it used to be.
These programs provided a large amount of great information on how to make extra money on your computer doing very little work. Numerous customers had provided great feedback and reviews for their products. Many of them have started to make money just days after buying!
Get Rich Quick Scams Revealed
Everybody would love to make lots of money quickly, working from home, and only doing a few hours of work per week. I've spent the past two years trying to find a great way of doing this.
Only over the course of the past few months have I found any "get rich quick" programs worth buying. I've been trying to make money online for a long time. I had a few small websites, but they never made much more than a few hundred per month.
It was easy money and didn't require much work on my part, but I knew there were people out there doing better than I was and I knew I could do as well as them. Now, I've seen a lot of "get rich quick" programs.
Most of these people make claims about earning $2000/day with Google or something similarly insane. Almost all of these people are complete liars. Even if they were making $2000/day with Google AdSense, it'd be because they had high- traffic websites with a lot of quality content.
I'd know, because in one whole month, I never even made half of what they promised I'd make daily with their programs. Maybe you've already been scammed by one of these fraudsters. Anyway, I finally got sick of what was being offered.
I decided I'd look through the all of the "get rich quick" programs I could find and see if there were any that were actually legitimate. I found that there were owners selling their programs for well over $100, but the information in them could be found almost anywhere online for free.
Additionally, they all contained out-of-date information, had no e-mail support, no money back guarantees, and broken links in the downloads section. In conclusion, almost all of the programs I found were completely useless.
The owners knew it, but they couldn't care less about their customers since they didn't offer refund policies! Amazingly, while looking through all of the programs, I actually did find a few legitimate programs.
They were run by ordinary people like you and me, and they had found some great methods of making money from their home by doing very little work. I spent some time working with those programs, and my income is now ten times what it used to be.
These programs provided a large amount of great information on how to make extra money on your computer doing very little work. Numerous customers had provided great feedback and reviews for their products. Many of them have started to make money just days after buying!
8 Tips for Summer Success
by Gabrielle Reece
I know many of you use summer as the time to jump-start your lifestyle change. I thought it would be important for you to hear helpful tips from people who have lost 50-100 pounds.
But before you blast through these tips, let me just ask you one thing: Aren't you ready to make the change? Come on, the sun is warming up our bones, and it's time to seize the chance to be healthier.
As a result of improving some of your habits, you'll look and feel great. So if you want to go for it, make the decision, and then the commitment, and then let's do it.
There's nothing unusual about the people who used these tips to accomplish success. They live all around the country - some are working, and some are stay-at-home moms.
1. Have your food plan organized. When it comes to eating, don't wing it. While you're starting out, you could even have your entire day or week mapped out for you.
Put the list of meals in the kitchen (on the fridge or oven) or in a notebook so you already know mentally and emotionally what you're going to be putting in your mouth.
It's even a great idea to have healthy snacks in the office or in the car in case you find yourself hungry while on the road or working late. Make sure to also control the portions of your healthy snacks. Put them in individual-serving containers, so it's easy to see where the cutoff point is.
2. Create a plan that you can stick to for the long haul. This isn't a diet mentality. This is about finding a way of eating and exercising that you can live with. The plan should reflect who you are and how you live your life.
For example, some of the individuals said they weren't willing or able to stop eating out as much, so it became important for them to learn how to eat healthier while dining out.
3. Find someone to go to battle with. Let's face it - it's just so much easier not to go it alone. Call a friend and see if they want to take on this adventure with you. Talk about how your experience is going, and surround yourself with people who are supporting your goals.
If they're trying to tempt you with foods, then either stay away from them or ask them to stop. People will quickly learn and respect that you are dead serious.
4. Take it one week at a time. It's better not to tell yourself you need to lose 20, 30, 60, or 100 pounds. Just shoot for a pound or two a week. This is a healthy and realistic goal.
If you stick to it, think about how much weight that'll be by the end of the year. You'll feel good about your mini-accomplishments each week that feed into your greater goal.
5. Don't punish yourself if you have an off-day or meal. If you fall off the wagon, don't let that throw you off course. Hey, we're all learning and we're all human, so give yourself a break. Be disciplined with yourself, but not to the point that it keeps you from succeeding.
6. Get professional help. Starting out can be frustrating and confusing. If you're able to find a good nutritionist to talk to at least once, make an appointment. Finding a pro is great, but if you don't have access to someone, then hit the library and find some books that are appealing to you to get some guidance.
7. Give yourself a pat on the back. Why not dream up something you'd like to do if you accomplish some of your long-term goals? Perhaps a trip to a place you've always wanted to go?
And while the long-term goals are great, it's important to give yourself props for all the small achievements along the way and for sticking with it. Try to find ways to reward yourself throughout the process. Some hot new outfit or look is a great reward.
8. Love thyself. Give yourself lots of loving talk and support. Tell yourself how proud you are for taking the time to care for yourself and your health, and how strong you are just for giving it a go.
Remember, we tell our children daily that it isn't about the end result - it's about the fact that they put forth their best effort. We all know that if an individual gives it their all, time and time again their results will be successful. You can do it.
I know many of you use summer as the time to jump-start your lifestyle change. I thought it would be important for you to hear helpful tips from people who have lost 50-100 pounds.
But before you blast through these tips, let me just ask you one thing: Aren't you ready to make the change? Come on, the sun is warming up our bones, and it's time to seize the chance to be healthier.
As a result of improving some of your habits, you'll look and feel great. So if you want to go for it, make the decision, and then the commitment, and then let's do it.
There's nothing unusual about the people who used these tips to accomplish success. They live all around the country - some are working, and some are stay-at-home moms.
1. Have your food plan organized. When it comes to eating, don't wing it. While you're starting out, you could even have your entire day or week mapped out for you.
Put the list of meals in the kitchen (on the fridge or oven) or in a notebook so you already know mentally and emotionally what you're going to be putting in your mouth.
It's even a great idea to have healthy snacks in the office or in the car in case you find yourself hungry while on the road or working late. Make sure to also control the portions of your healthy snacks. Put them in individual-serving containers, so it's easy to see where the cutoff point is.
2. Create a plan that you can stick to for the long haul. This isn't a diet mentality. This is about finding a way of eating and exercising that you can live with. The plan should reflect who you are and how you live your life.
For example, some of the individuals said they weren't willing or able to stop eating out as much, so it became important for them to learn how to eat healthier while dining out.
3. Find someone to go to battle with. Let's face it - it's just so much easier not to go it alone. Call a friend and see if they want to take on this adventure with you. Talk about how your experience is going, and surround yourself with people who are supporting your goals.
If they're trying to tempt you with foods, then either stay away from them or ask them to stop. People will quickly learn and respect that you are dead serious.
4. Take it one week at a time. It's better not to tell yourself you need to lose 20, 30, 60, or 100 pounds. Just shoot for a pound or two a week. This is a healthy and realistic goal.
If you stick to it, think about how much weight that'll be by the end of the year. You'll feel good about your mini-accomplishments each week that feed into your greater goal.
5. Don't punish yourself if you have an off-day or meal. If you fall off the wagon, don't let that throw you off course. Hey, we're all learning and we're all human, so give yourself a break. Be disciplined with yourself, but not to the point that it keeps you from succeeding.
6. Get professional help. Starting out can be frustrating and confusing. If you're able to find a good nutritionist to talk to at least once, make an appointment. Finding a pro is great, but if you don't have access to someone, then hit the library and find some books that are appealing to you to get some guidance.
7. Give yourself a pat on the back. Why not dream up something you'd like to do if you accomplish some of your long-term goals? Perhaps a trip to a place you've always wanted to go?
And while the long-term goals are great, it's important to give yourself props for all the small achievements along the way and for sticking with it. Try to find ways to reward yourself throughout the process. Some hot new outfit or look is a great reward.
8. Love thyself. Give yourself lots of loving talk and support. Tell yourself how proud you are for taking the time to care for yourself and your health, and how strong you are just for giving it a go.
Remember, we tell our children daily that it isn't about the end result - it's about the fact that they put forth their best effort. We all know that if an individual gives it their all, time and time again their results will be successful. You can do it.
Boost Your Bacteria for Better Health
Health Notes from NewsMax Health
Scientists say we’re overdoing it with exterminating bacteria, especially those inside of our bodies.
In fact, tens of millions of people suffer from "dysbiosis" and don't even know it. You may be one of them.
In his special report ”Probiotics: The Answer to Many Mystery Illnesses”, NewsMax’s Dr. Russell Blaylock writes, “Whether you realize it or not, your body needs bacteria, especially good types.
The good types of bacteria are called "probiotics" and they include Lactobacillus, Bifidobacterium, E. Coli, and Acidophilus. They perform a vital function — they fight the bad bacteria like pathogenic (harmful) E. coli species and other killer germs.”
Dr. Joseph Pizzorno, a former member of the White House Commission on Complementary and Alternative Medicine policy, told Wired magazine, "Probiotics have resulted in complete elimination of eczema in 80 percent of the people we've treated."
Dr. Pizzorno, who has also used probiotics to treat irritable bowel syndrome and even diabetes, said, "It's unusual for me to see a patient with a chronic disease that doesn't respond to probiotics."
According to NYU Medical Center microbiologist Dr. Martin Blaser, "The microbes that live in the human body are quite ancient. They've been selected (through evolution) because they help us."
Dr. Blaser is among many scientists who believe modern sanitary practices which promote the overuse of everything from mouthwashes to bathroom cleansers have upset the ancient balance.
Exposure early in life to microbes, scientists believe, causes mild inflammation that helps the body calibrate its responses to germs and contaminants later on. Some researchers say that unless people are exposed as infants, they can end up with poorly balanced immune systems.
Dr. Pizzorno recommends getting probiotics from doctors and medical specialists. He said that consumer probiotics may or may not contain proper strains of bacteria, and that the bacteria in consumer products are often dead.
Dr. Blaylock agrees. He writes, “A wide variety of organisms are sold as probiotics, but studies have shown that not all are effective. Some are very sensitive to stomach acid and are killed before they reach the colon, while others are acid resistant.”
Dr. Blaylock goes on to describe all the benefits of probiotics, and details how and when to take them. To get Dr. Blaylock’s special report, ”Probiotics: The Answer to Many Mystery Illnesses,” Go Here
http://www.usaweekend.com/01_issues/010114/010114moneysmart.html
Scientists say we’re overdoing it with exterminating bacteria, especially those inside of our bodies.
In fact, tens of millions of people suffer from "dysbiosis" and don't even know it. You may be one of them.
In his special report ”Probiotics: The Answer to Many Mystery Illnesses”, NewsMax’s Dr. Russell Blaylock writes, “Whether you realize it or not, your body needs bacteria, especially good types.
The good types of bacteria are called "probiotics" and they include Lactobacillus, Bifidobacterium, E. Coli, and Acidophilus. They perform a vital function — they fight the bad bacteria like pathogenic (harmful) E. coli species and other killer germs.”
Dr. Joseph Pizzorno, a former member of the White House Commission on Complementary and Alternative Medicine policy, told Wired magazine, "Probiotics have resulted in complete elimination of eczema in 80 percent of the people we've treated."
Dr. Pizzorno, who has also used probiotics to treat irritable bowel syndrome and even diabetes, said, "It's unusual for me to see a patient with a chronic disease that doesn't respond to probiotics."
According to NYU Medical Center microbiologist Dr. Martin Blaser, "The microbes that live in the human body are quite ancient. They've been selected (through evolution) because they help us."
Dr. Blaser is among many scientists who believe modern sanitary practices which promote the overuse of everything from mouthwashes to bathroom cleansers have upset the ancient balance.
Exposure early in life to microbes, scientists believe, causes mild inflammation that helps the body calibrate its responses to germs and contaminants later on. Some researchers say that unless people are exposed as infants, they can end up with poorly balanced immune systems.
Dr. Pizzorno recommends getting probiotics from doctors and medical specialists. He said that consumer probiotics may or may not contain proper strains of bacteria, and that the bacteria in consumer products are often dead.
Dr. Blaylock agrees. He writes, “A wide variety of organisms are sold as probiotics, but studies have shown that not all are effective. Some are very sensitive to stomach acid and are killed before they reach the colon, while others are acid resistant.”
Dr. Blaylock goes on to describe all the benefits of probiotics, and details how and when to take them. To get Dr. Blaylock’s special report, ”Probiotics: The Answer to Many Mystery Illnesses,” Go Here
http://www.usaweekend.com/01_issues/010114/010114moneysmart.html
How You Can Develop Your Self Esteem And Increase Your Financial Success
By Greg Nicholls
Self esteem is an ingredient that is missing in many people, an ingredient that could take people from where they are to where they want to be. Fortunately self esteem can be found quite easily; believe it or not, it is really just a decision away.
How does one make this decision?
First of all, take some time to set out some goals, set these goals to be attained within about 90 days.
Then, look back on these goals and get to know some specific information about them, for example, if you want a new car, determine the make, model, color, features, options and price of the vehicle.
When you know all of this information, go to the car dealership and take one out for a test drive.
You want to get emotionally attached to this goal so that it is more real to you because you will be focusing on this goal daily in your mind and recalling how the car smelled, felt, drove, where the buttons are, what they do, etc.
Taking time to get specific and intimate with your goal is one of the keys to success.
But how does all this lead to self-esteem you ask?
When you have a purpose in life, and you are happy and excited about moving towards and attaining your goals, you develop self-esteem.
You say you could never get a new car (or the car of your dreams) with the job that you have? Well, get a new job, or better yet, start your own business.
The likely reason you have low self esteem is because you are not satisfied with your life; you are not making the money you want or need to, you are away from your family for way too many hours each week, you do not like the work you do and have felt “stuck” in it for so long that you have begun to shrivel up in a ball of self doubt, worry and fear.
So…snap out of it!
There is a beautiful quote by Marianne Williamson that you deserve to read:
Our Deepest Fear by Marianne Williamson
“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.
We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world.
There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us.
It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”
So now you know that you are meant for greatness and to let your inner light shine, do yourself and the world a favour and make a decision to develop your self esteem.
I know you can do it!
Self esteem is an ingredient that is missing in many people, an ingredient that could take people from where they are to where they want to be. Fortunately self esteem can be found quite easily; believe it or not, it is really just a decision away.
How does one make this decision?
First of all, take some time to set out some goals, set these goals to be attained within about 90 days.
Then, look back on these goals and get to know some specific information about them, for example, if you want a new car, determine the make, model, color, features, options and price of the vehicle.
When you know all of this information, go to the car dealership and take one out for a test drive.
You want to get emotionally attached to this goal so that it is more real to you because you will be focusing on this goal daily in your mind and recalling how the car smelled, felt, drove, where the buttons are, what they do, etc.
Taking time to get specific and intimate with your goal is one of the keys to success.
But how does all this lead to self-esteem you ask?
When you have a purpose in life, and you are happy and excited about moving towards and attaining your goals, you develop self-esteem.
You say you could never get a new car (or the car of your dreams) with the job that you have? Well, get a new job, or better yet, start your own business.
The likely reason you have low self esteem is because you are not satisfied with your life; you are not making the money you want or need to, you are away from your family for way too many hours each week, you do not like the work you do and have felt “stuck” in it for so long that you have begun to shrivel up in a ball of self doubt, worry and fear.
So…snap out of it!
There is a beautiful quote by Marianne Williamson that you deserve to read:
Our Deepest Fear by Marianne Williamson
“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.
We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world.
There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us.
It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”
So now you know that you are meant for greatness and to let your inner light shine, do yourself and the world a favour and make a decision to develop your self esteem.
I know you can do it!
Personal Development Success Habits - What You Need To Know Now To Succeed With Personal Development
By Greg Nicholls
Have you ever read a book to do with some sort of Personal Development that made you feel really good, gave you a new lease on life and basically left you feeling invincible?
What happened to you two weeks later?
Do you remember everything?Are you still applying the principals to your life? Are you looking for another program of Personal Development to give you that boost again? Do you blame it on your memory, or your lack of will power?
Are you tired of this cycle?
The reason why you are stuck on this roller coaster of Personal Development is because the habit of applying these principals to your life has not been formed yet. The typical person takes 21 days to form a new habit.
That is great for one new principal, but what if there are 7 or 12 or 29 principals that you want to be applying to your life?
The answer is simple!
Form a daily habit of focusing on the new principals and refocus on the existing ones. In the beginning, this will take some effort, but the payoff will be substantial.
The key is to keep a daily journal; this is a log of your progress and is also an account of what you have learned.
As you learn new principals, write down an abbreviated version of the principal, example: JRN might be short for Journal.
Put these principals on a piece of paper, like a bookmark, so as you are writing your progress for the day in your journal, you are reminded of the principals you are to be focusing on. On this paper, you may have it down to review your daily affirmations, your goals, whatever.
Having this list of the principals you should be focusing on will ensure you are reminded to focus on them and your journal will be the record of your progress.
As you typically have many new principals introduced into your life all at once, the habit forming process will take longer, so expect to see results in some areas of your life right away and some as time goes on.
After 90 days of following this routine, you will see some dramatic improvements in your life.
You can find a 90 Day Personal Development program that has great content of principals that will change your life and one that effectively incorporates the approach that I described for forming habits of your new found principals.
Using this method, you will find years of time saved in reviewing and re-reviewing countless books, much greater overall results and much less money spent on the material.
Once you have formed the habit of implementing a base of new principals of Personal Development, adding additional ones to your daily routine will become easier and your results will get better.
Personal Development only works if you apply it to your life.
Have you ever read a book to do with some sort of Personal Development that made you feel really good, gave you a new lease on life and basically left you feeling invincible?
What happened to you two weeks later?
Do you remember everything?Are you still applying the principals to your life? Are you looking for another program of Personal Development to give you that boost again? Do you blame it on your memory, or your lack of will power?
Are you tired of this cycle?
The reason why you are stuck on this roller coaster of Personal Development is because the habit of applying these principals to your life has not been formed yet. The typical person takes 21 days to form a new habit.
That is great for one new principal, but what if there are 7 or 12 or 29 principals that you want to be applying to your life?
The answer is simple!
Form a daily habit of focusing on the new principals and refocus on the existing ones. In the beginning, this will take some effort, but the payoff will be substantial.
The key is to keep a daily journal; this is a log of your progress and is also an account of what you have learned.
As you learn new principals, write down an abbreviated version of the principal, example: JRN might be short for Journal.
Put these principals on a piece of paper, like a bookmark, so as you are writing your progress for the day in your journal, you are reminded of the principals you are to be focusing on. On this paper, you may have it down to review your daily affirmations, your goals, whatever.
Having this list of the principals you should be focusing on will ensure you are reminded to focus on them and your journal will be the record of your progress.
As you typically have many new principals introduced into your life all at once, the habit forming process will take longer, so expect to see results in some areas of your life right away and some as time goes on.
After 90 days of following this routine, you will see some dramatic improvements in your life.
You can find a 90 Day Personal Development program that has great content of principals that will change your life and one that effectively incorporates the approach that I described for forming habits of your new found principals.
Using this method, you will find years of time saved in reviewing and re-reviewing countless books, much greater overall results and much less money spent on the material.
Once you have formed the habit of implementing a base of new principals of Personal Development, adding additional ones to your daily routine will become easier and your results will get better.
Personal Development only works if you apply it to your life.
Upper Loire offers high-quality Sauvignon Blancs from classic and emerging districts
By Mary Ewing-Mulligan and Ed McCarthy
In the eternal search for the white wine that can rival Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc has always been the front-runner.
Our own search for high-quality, affordable Sauvignon Blancs has led us to the Loire Valley, where producers from established and emerging districts now ship their Sauvignon Blanc wines to the United States.
The Upper Loire—the eastern part of the valley, closest to Paris—is the center of production for Sauvignon Blanc. Millions of years ago the ocean covered this area, and it left the soil rich in many minerals, including flintstone, quartz and silica.
Today the chalky, limestone hills and the cool, temperate climate provide a classic growing environment for this grape.
In addition to Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé—the best-known regions of the area—lesser-known Sauvignon Loires are Ménétou-Salon, Quincy, Reuilly, Coteaux du Giennois and Touraine Sauvignon.
Sancerre is the largest and most renowned Loire area, and its whites are famous around the world.
The region’s white wines are medium-bodied, crisp and fresh, with green-grass and citrus aromas and flavors, as well as a minerally smokiness in some wines. They are usually unoaked and wholesale for about $136 to $192 per case.
Across the Loire River from the town of Sancerre is the smaller Pouilly-Fumé district. Pouilly-Fumé is not quite so herbaceous and spicy, and it often has a distinct flinty aroma.
It’s also generally fuller-bodied and rounder than Sancerre, with softer acidity. Wholesale prices for Pouilly-Fumés range from $160 to $300 per case.
2005 Henri Bourgeois Quincy “Les Victoires” (Loire Valley)
This wine is dry, medium-bodied and crisp, with concentrated grapefruit and herbal flavors. It would be a great match with shellfish or trout, and it’s a terrific value.
Wholesale price per case of 12, $120.
Coteaux du Giennois, north of Sancerre, received AOC status only in 1998. About 70 percent of the area’s wines are red or rosé but the white wines are all Sauvignon Blanc.
Sauvignon Blanc wines are best when young, including these Loire whites, most of which should be consumed within two or three years of the vintage. The one exception is the costlier, oak-aged Pouilly-Fumés, which are still fine after five or six years.
Although Sancerres and Pouilly-Fumés are the most available Loire Sauvignon Blanc wines and are consistently good, we find that some of the most exciting—and affordable—wines come from Quincy, Reuilly and Ménétou-Salon.
In the eternal search for the white wine that can rival Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc has always been the front-runner.
Our own search for high-quality, affordable Sauvignon Blancs has led us to the Loire Valley, where producers from established and emerging districts now ship their Sauvignon Blanc wines to the United States.
The Upper Loire—the eastern part of the valley, closest to Paris—is the center of production for Sauvignon Blanc. Millions of years ago the ocean covered this area, and it left the soil rich in many minerals, including flintstone, quartz and silica.
Today the chalky, limestone hills and the cool, temperate climate provide a classic growing environment for this grape.
In addition to Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé—the best-known regions of the area—lesser-known Sauvignon Loires are Ménétou-Salon, Quincy, Reuilly, Coteaux du Giennois and Touraine Sauvignon.
Sancerre is the largest and most renowned Loire area, and its whites are famous around the world.
The region’s white wines are medium-bodied, crisp and fresh, with green-grass and citrus aromas and flavors, as well as a minerally smokiness in some wines. They are usually unoaked and wholesale for about $136 to $192 per case.
Across the Loire River from the town of Sancerre is the smaller Pouilly-Fumé district. Pouilly-Fumé is not quite so herbaceous and spicy, and it often has a distinct flinty aroma.
It’s also generally fuller-bodied and rounder than Sancerre, with softer acidity. Wholesale prices for Pouilly-Fumés range from $160 to $300 per case.
---------------------
WINE OF THE WEEK
2005 Henri Bourgeois Quincy “Les Victoires” (Loire Valley)
This wine is dry, medium-bodied and crisp, with concentrated grapefruit and herbal flavors. It would be a great match with shellfish or trout, and it’s a terrific value.
Wholesale price per case of 12, $120.
----------------------
The Ménétou-Salon zone is south of Sancerre, and the ten villages in the area produce 60 percent white Ménétou-Salon and 40 percent red and rosé from Pinot Noir.
White Ménétou-Salon wines are perhaps closest in style to Sancerre, although usually less expensive—about $132 to $144 per case.
About five years ago, it was difficult to find any Quincy wines in the United States, but they’re here now and are exceptional bargains. Quincy produces only white wine that is very fresh and lively, with ripe citrus aromas and flavors.
Wholesale prices range from $96 to $120 a case. Like Quincy wines, white Reuilly is lighter-bodied than Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé, and it usually has more pronounced acidity and assertive herbal aromas. White Reuilly is also a real bargain, wholesaling for $108 to $160 per case.
Coteaux du Giennois, north of Sancerre, received AOC status only in 1998. About 70 percent of the area’s wines are red or rosé but the white wines are all Sauvignon Blanc.
The white is a lighter-bodied version of Sancerre and is probably the most difficult Sauvignon Loire wine to find in the United States. One producer sells a case for a bargain price of $108.
The Touraine area is a fertile area, and the Sauvignons here tend to be light, aromatic and a bit riper in flavor than those of the Upper Loire. They are also less expensive, wholesaling for $80 to $120 per case.
Sauvignon Blanc wines are best when young, including these Loire whites, most of which should be consumed within two or three years of the vintage. The one exception is the costlier, oak-aged Pouilly-Fumés, which are still fine after five or six years.
All of these wines are wonderful with goat cheese. Other great matches with Loire Sauvignons include seafood, especially oysters and trout. Fuller-bodied Pouilly-Fumés go well with white meat entrées.
Although Sancerres and Pouilly-Fumés are the most available Loire Sauvignon Blanc wines and are consistently good, we find that some of the most exciting—and affordable—wines come from Quincy, Reuilly and Ménétou-Salon.
Zippy ceviche calls out for zippy wines
Search for wines with good acidity -- but not too much.
By Bill Daley
Ceviche is the other raw fish swimming to popularity in American restaurants and, bravely perhaps, American home kitchens too.While sushi is Japanese, ceviche is most widely identified with the cuisines of Latin America and the Caribbean.
It is raw (or, sometimes, lightly blanched) fish and shellfish "cooked" in an acidic citrus juice, usually lime or lemon. The juice is what gives this dish of the freshest of fresh seafood a refreshing zip, yet it poses a serious challenge in wine pairings.
"The thing is, if the wine doesn't have as much acidity as the dish, it [the wine] can fall flat and the wine will taste sweet," said Jill Gubesch, wine director of Frontera Grill and Topolobampo restaurants in Chicago.
The citrus juice would accentuate the fruitiness in such a wine at the expense of the wine's acidity. Even a dry wine can finish sweet if the acidity is not there, she said.Acid is good, agreed Paul Finkelmeyer, beverage director at DeLaCosta restaurant, but you have to watch the tart/sweet scale.
He said a minerally austere French Sancerre with "lots of lemon and lime" would tire out the mouth of the ceviche eater."There would be so much acid, the wine would taste like lemonade without enough sugar," he said.
As for reds, the key is lightness and fruitiness, Finkelmeyer added. Big, oaky reds would make the ceviche taste flabby. Better to choose the gamay grape, used in Beaujolais.
Or consider rose. Chef Edgar Rodriguez of Salbute restaurant said that pinot grigio, riesling and verdelho are three wines he would recommend with the ceviche served at the Hinsdale restaurant. All three wines have a sweetness that marries well with the milder, less fiery profile of Salbute's ceviche.
Gubesch touts dry "trocken" riesling from Germany as one of her top ceviche pairings.
"It has to be a dry riesling, totally dry, totally trocken," she said. The riesling has to be German; Gubesch thinks the minerality and complexity of Alsatian riesling can "throw off" the ceviche.
"Another match you can never go wrong with is Champagne," she said, noting that sparkling wine works with all the ceviches served at the restaurant.Finkelmeyer said that sweet wines are traditionally paired with ceviche.
He's experimenting with different varietals, looking for "voluptuous wines" that can deliver a flavor profile akin to the sweet wines without the sweetness.
He's not worried about playing with unfamiliar wines because the typical ceviche orderer is someone who is generally more adventurous, looking to take the dining experience to a new level.
Monica Samuels, Sushi Samba Rio general manager, pointed toward aromatic wines, such as gewurztraminer and gruner veltliner -- wines with plenty of fragrance, acidity and, especially in the case of the gewurz, spice.
At Carnivale restaurant, wine director Elizabeth Palmer loves albarino, a Spanish white, with such ceviche as shrimp, scallop and fluke. Chardonnay from Argentina is another go-to, largely because the grapes are grown at high elevations and make more acidic wines.
Books and Web sites offer pairing suggestions too. Natalie MacLean, the Canadian wine writer, recommends chardonnay, French Chablis or sauvignon blanc on her Web site, Nat Decants (nataliemaclean.com).
Master sommelier Evan Goldstein recommends a "clean, racy, citrusy pinot gris" in his book, "Perfect Pairings," to go with scallop ceviche with grapefruit and avocado.
And Andrew Dornenburg and Karen Page, in their "What to Drink with What You Eat," range from New Zealand sauvignon blanc, vinho verde, German riesling and sparkling wine.
Whatever the wine varietal, the type that works best with ceviche will be one with plenty of zip.
Sipping with ceviche
The Good Eating tasting panel visited DeLaCosta restaurant, 465 E. Illinois St., to pair ceviche with a selection of wines assembled by Paul Finkelmeyer, DeLaCosta's beverage director.
"Fire and Ice" is the restaurant's most popular ceviche, featuring raw tuna, Thai chili, fresh coconut, coriander microgreens, kaffir lime and galangal-infused sauce.
The ceviche was well-balanced, nuanced, with a heat that served as a counterpoint to the cool sweetness of the coconut. As always in food-wine pairings, the corkscrew rating reflects how well the beverage matches the food.
2005 Delille Cellars Chaleur Estate
This Bordeaux-style white from Washington's Columbia Valley paired beautifully with the ceviche. Big without being brash, and a tad buttery, the wine had great acidity that allowed the tuna to shine while holding its own.
Finkelmeyer thought the wine's body served as a "cornerstone" for all the "hidden flavors of a complex ceviche to build upon."
(3 corkscrews) $35
2004 Paul Anheuser Schlossbockelheimer Konigsfels Kabinett Riesling
A classic German riesling bursting with fruit and aroma. Its creamy sweetness tames the ceviche's heat while the high acidity keeps the pairing lively.
(3 corkscrews) $16
2005 Skouras Zoe Rose
This lively Greek rose had plenty of lime flavor to discipline the berry notes. The wine has an intensity to match the ceviche without being overwhelmed, while the ceviche brings out the fruitiness in the wine.
(3 corkscrews) $10
NV Cristalino Cava Brut Rose
A Spanish sparkling wine with plenty of lime notes and high acidity, yet some tasters thought it overemphasized the heat of the ceviche.
(2 corkscrews) $9
2005 Buil & Gine Nosis Verdejo
This Spanish white got the highest score when tasted on its own, but its ranking fell sharply when paired with ceviche. One taster thought the ceviche brought out a metallic note in the wine; another thought the wine's herbaceous profile clashed with the coriander.
(2 corkscrews) $14
Dewazakura Dewasansan Green Ridge Sake
Tasters appreciated the fresh, subtle quality of this sake on its own but found its cool cucumber quality was lost amid the flavors of the ceviche. This bottling may have to be ordered by your local merchant from the distributor.
(2 corkscrews) $32
(4 corkscrews) Excellent (3 corkscrews) Very good (2 corkscrews) Good (1 corkscrew) Fair (No corkscrews) Poor
By Bill Daley
Ceviche is the other raw fish swimming to popularity in American restaurants and, bravely perhaps, American home kitchens too.While sushi is Japanese, ceviche is most widely identified with the cuisines of Latin America and the Caribbean.
It is raw (or, sometimes, lightly blanched) fish and shellfish "cooked" in an acidic citrus juice, usually lime or lemon. The juice is what gives this dish of the freshest of fresh seafood a refreshing zip, yet it poses a serious challenge in wine pairings.
"The thing is, if the wine doesn't have as much acidity as the dish, it [the wine] can fall flat and the wine will taste sweet," said Jill Gubesch, wine director of Frontera Grill and Topolobampo restaurants in Chicago.
The citrus juice would accentuate the fruitiness in such a wine at the expense of the wine's acidity. Even a dry wine can finish sweet if the acidity is not there, she said.Acid is good, agreed Paul Finkelmeyer, beverage director at DeLaCosta restaurant, but you have to watch the tart/sweet scale.
He said a minerally austere French Sancerre with "lots of lemon and lime" would tire out the mouth of the ceviche eater."There would be so much acid, the wine would taste like lemonade without enough sugar," he said.
As for reds, the key is lightness and fruitiness, Finkelmeyer added. Big, oaky reds would make the ceviche taste flabby. Better to choose the gamay grape, used in Beaujolais.
Or consider rose. Chef Edgar Rodriguez of Salbute restaurant said that pinot grigio, riesling and verdelho are three wines he would recommend with the ceviche served at the Hinsdale restaurant. All three wines have a sweetness that marries well with the milder, less fiery profile of Salbute's ceviche.
Gubesch touts dry "trocken" riesling from Germany as one of her top ceviche pairings.
"It has to be a dry riesling, totally dry, totally trocken," she said. The riesling has to be German; Gubesch thinks the minerality and complexity of Alsatian riesling can "throw off" the ceviche.
"Another match you can never go wrong with is Champagne," she said, noting that sparkling wine works with all the ceviches served at the restaurant.Finkelmeyer said that sweet wines are traditionally paired with ceviche.
He's experimenting with different varietals, looking for "voluptuous wines" that can deliver a flavor profile akin to the sweet wines without the sweetness.
He's not worried about playing with unfamiliar wines because the typical ceviche orderer is someone who is generally more adventurous, looking to take the dining experience to a new level.
Monica Samuels, Sushi Samba Rio general manager, pointed toward aromatic wines, such as gewurztraminer and gruner veltliner -- wines with plenty of fragrance, acidity and, especially in the case of the gewurz, spice.
At Carnivale restaurant, wine director Elizabeth Palmer loves albarino, a Spanish white, with such ceviche as shrimp, scallop and fluke. Chardonnay from Argentina is another go-to, largely because the grapes are grown at high elevations and make more acidic wines.
Books and Web sites offer pairing suggestions too. Natalie MacLean, the Canadian wine writer, recommends chardonnay, French Chablis or sauvignon blanc on her Web site, Nat Decants (nataliemaclean.com).
Master sommelier Evan Goldstein recommends a "clean, racy, citrusy pinot gris" in his book, "Perfect Pairings," to go with scallop ceviche with grapefruit and avocado.
And Andrew Dornenburg and Karen Page, in their "What to Drink with What You Eat," range from New Zealand sauvignon blanc, vinho verde, German riesling and sparkling wine.
Whatever the wine varietal, the type that works best with ceviche will be one with plenty of zip.
Sipping with ceviche
The Good Eating tasting panel visited DeLaCosta restaurant, 465 E. Illinois St., to pair ceviche with a selection of wines assembled by Paul Finkelmeyer, DeLaCosta's beverage director.
"Fire and Ice" is the restaurant's most popular ceviche, featuring raw tuna, Thai chili, fresh coconut, coriander microgreens, kaffir lime and galangal-infused sauce.
The ceviche was well-balanced, nuanced, with a heat that served as a counterpoint to the cool sweetness of the coconut. As always in food-wine pairings, the corkscrew rating reflects how well the beverage matches the food.
2005 Delille Cellars Chaleur Estate
This Bordeaux-style white from Washington's Columbia Valley paired beautifully with the ceviche. Big without being brash, and a tad buttery, the wine had great acidity that allowed the tuna to shine while holding its own.
Finkelmeyer thought the wine's body served as a "cornerstone" for all the "hidden flavors of a complex ceviche to build upon."
(3 corkscrews) $35
2004 Paul Anheuser Schlossbockelheimer Konigsfels Kabinett Riesling
A classic German riesling bursting with fruit and aroma. Its creamy sweetness tames the ceviche's heat while the high acidity keeps the pairing lively.
(3 corkscrews) $16
2005 Skouras Zoe Rose
This lively Greek rose had plenty of lime flavor to discipline the berry notes. The wine has an intensity to match the ceviche without being overwhelmed, while the ceviche brings out the fruitiness in the wine.
(3 corkscrews) $10
NV Cristalino Cava Brut Rose
A Spanish sparkling wine with plenty of lime notes and high acidity, yet some tasters thought it overemphasized the heat of the ceviche.
(2 corkscrews) $9
2005 Buil & Gine Nosis Verdejo
This Spanish white got the highest score when tasted on its own, but its ranking fell sharply when paired with ceviche. One taster thought the ceviche brought out a metallic note in the wine; another thought the wine's herbaceous profile clashed with the coriander.
(2 corkscrews) $14
Dewazakura Dewasansan Green Ridge Sake
Tasters appreciated the fresh, subtle quality of this sake on its own but found its cool cucumber quality was lost amid the flavors of the ceviche. This bottling may have to be ordered by your local merchant from the distributor.
(2 corkscrews) $32
(4 corkscrews) Excellent (3 corkscrews) Very good (2 corkscrews) Good (1 corkscrew) Fair (No corkscrews) Poor
Tuesday, May 08, 2007
Gain Muscle Mass and Weight Fast in If You Cannot Bulk Up
By: Davion Wong
Skinny people can gain muscle mass and weight fast with the right combination of exercises and weight gain diet. But in order to attain a muscular physique like those of bodybuilders would require much more effort.
It requires great discipline and mental focus. This article will shed some light on the exercise routines you can perform to achieve a well-defined body and gain muscle strength, muscle mass and weight.Weight gain must not be attained by changes in diet only.
Adequate exercises are required to ensure a healthy weight increase. If you are thin and just want to add some pounds to your scrawny build, you can consider working out thrice per week.
For each work-out, engage in some moderate physical activities such as jogging, brisk walking or fast walking, or play a game of sport. Be sure to sweat it out for half an hour or more. People have found it helpful to find an exercise partner, whether to go for regular runs, or work out at the gym.
It wouldn’t be so boring and lonely to exercise then. Another benefit is the mutual encouragement that both of you can give to each other. This would spur you on to inculcate the discipline required to maintain an exercise regime.
Research shows that if you repeatedly perform an act for 40 days, it would be ingrained in your mind as a habit. It’s little wonder that people would go on cold turkey for 40 days to quit a habit such as smoking or just about any addiction.
Exercise is healthy addiction, isn’t it? We have looked at how you can exercise to gain muscle mass and weight fast. Resistance training at the gym would be even more beneficial to add more muscle mass on your body.
However, such training must not be attempted without any basic or prior knowledge of the kinds of exercises and the right techniques to use the gym equipment and free weights.
Should you decide to go into basic bodybuilding or weight lifting, you are advised to speak with a qualified fitness instructor or at least read up more about how to work with the gym equipment and weights safely.
Muscles would grow only when stressed to its break-point. In other words, you need to stress your muscles by training them hard to their maximum strength threshold or at least near there. This would force your muscles to gain strength and in the process grow.
One golden tip to gain muscle mass and weight fast is to focus on strength gaining. This is vital because muscle growth would follow strength gain. Work on the larger muscle groups, and do exercises such as dead lifts, chin ups, bench press and squats.
However, a word of caution here is not to be hasty. Spread out your training over the week to give your muscles time to recover from the strain. Proper pacing would achieve better results in the long run.
Learn more from my blog about how you can achieve weight gain and gain muscle mass fast even if you are skinny and have failed in all kinds of exercise routines and weight gain diets.
Davion is a successful webmaster and author. Find out more about natural and effective tips on how to gain weight and muscle mass quickly that have benefited many skinny people at his blog www.gain-muscle-mass-weight.blogspot.com.
Skinny people can gain muscle mass and weight fast with the right combination of exercises and weight gain diet. But in order to attain a muscular physique like those of bodybuilders would require much more effort.
It requires great discipline and mental focus. This article will shed some light on the exercise routines you can perform to achieve a well-defined body and gain muscle strength, muscle mass and weight.Weight gain must not be attained by changes in diet only.
Adequate exercises are required to ensure a healthy weight increase. If you are thin and just want to add some pounds to your scrawny build, you can consider working out thrice per week.
For each work-out, engage in some moderate physical activities such as jogging, brisk walking or fast walking, or play a game of sport. Be sure to sweat it out for half an hour or more. People have found it helpful to find an exercise partner, whether to go for regular runs, or work out at the gym.
It wouldn’t be so boring and lonely to exercise then. Another benefit is the mutual encouragement that both of you can give to each other. This would spur you on to inculcate the discipline required to maintain an exercise regime.
Research shows that if you repeatedly perform an act for 40 days, it would be ingrained in your mind as a habit. It’s little wonder that people would go on cold turkey for 40 days to quit a habit such as smoking or just about any addiction.
Exercise is healthy addiction, isn’t it? We have looked at how you can exercise to gain muscle mass and weight fast. Resistance training at the gym would be even more beneficial to add more muscle mass on your body.
However, such training must not be attempted without any basic or prior knowledge of the kinds of exercises and the right techniques to use the gym equipment and free weights.
Should you decide to go into basic bodybuilding or weight lifting, you are advised to speak with a qualified fitness instructor or at least read up more about how to work with the gym equipment and weights safely.
Muscles would grow only when stressed to its break-point. In other words, you need to stress your muscles by training them hard to their maximum strength threshold or at least near there. This would force your muscles to gain strength and in the process grow.
One golden tip to gain muscle mass and weight fast is to focus on strength gaining. This is vital because muscle growth would follow strength gain. Work on the larger muscle groups, and do exercises such as dead lifts, chin ups, bench press and squats.
However, a word of caution here is not to be hasty. Spread out your training over the week to give your muscles time to recover from the strain. Proper pacing would achieve better results in the long run.
Learn more from my blog about how you can achieve weight gain and gain muscle mass fast even if you are skinny and have failed in all kinds of exercise routines and weight gain diets.
Davion is a successful webmaster and author. Find out more about natural and effective tips on how to gain weight and muscle mass quickly that have benefited many skinny people at his blog www.gain-muscle-mass-weight.blogspot.com.
Minimum Credit Requirements to Buy a Home with 100% Financing
By: Ron Stone
Obtaining a mortgage for 100% of the purchase price of a home is much more common today than a few years ago since most people don’t have a bunch of money to put down.
Also, in many cases the buyer will finance in the closing costs. And while every lender has somewhat different credit requirements, following are the basic requirements.
• A middle credit score (of the 3 bureaus) of 600. Most lenders recently bumped up the score requirement from 580 to 600. There are however, still a few lenders that will do 100% for a mid score of 580. Also, in most cases you must have at least 2 credit scores. If you only have 2, use the lower of the 2.
• No late rent payments for the last 12 months. The definition of late is 30 days late. As to proof of this, most lenders fall into 1 of 3 categories:-
1) Copies of canceled checks
2) A letter from a landlord
3) A few don’t even check.
• Time since a Bankruptcy varies all over the board. Some will do 100% if you are only 1 day out. Some want at least 2 years.
• Time since a foreclosure of 3 years. This is true with nearly everyone. One more note on foreclosures. Many lenders call a mortgage with a 120-day late a foreclosure even if it wasn’t actually foreclosed on. Sorry, don’t shoot the messenger.
• A maximum debt to income (or DTI) ratio of 50% and for some lenders 55%. A DTI is calculated by dividing all monthly debt payments including the proposed mortgage with taxes and insurance by your monthly gross income.
With many lenders, if you have a mid score of 640, you can “state” (don’t have to prove, within reason) your income. The rate is higher but it can get you over a DTI problem.
• Other – For people with No credit scores and scores below 580, there is still hope. Actually this could turn out to be the best deal ever if you qualify. This involves mostly government (FHA, VA, etc.) loans although there are a couple of non-government programs that do 100% with no scores.
While there is a good bit more work needed by you and your broker, these programs can be wonderful. For example, I have helped many people obtain 100% financing with these programs with 30 year fixed rates of 6.75 to 7% and a little mortgage insurance, versus 9%+ on other 100% loans.
The key is to have 4 trade lines, which usually don’t show on your credit (rent, utilities, insurance, cell phone, etc.) that have been on time (again, not 30 days late) the last 1 year. You also can’t have any collections, (Some programs will make an exception for medical.) judgments or bankruptcies in the last 2 years.
Well, there you have it. One last note, if your score is below 580 and you don’t qualify for the government programs I covered above, find a broker or credit reporting service that will analyze your credit to see what you can do to quickly raise your credit score.
Beware of all the quick fix credit repair services out there. Improving your credit score can sometimes be tricky but doable. For example, paying off an old collection can actually bring your score DOWN! I know this is hard to believe, but I have seen it.
Ron Stone is a Mortgage Loan Originator specializing in helping people with less than perfect credit to obtain a mortgage. He works in the states of Alabama and Florida.
To learn more about the great Alabama Mortgage programs (he has similar programs for Florida), visit him at http://www.alabama-mortgage-specialists.com,
Obtaining a mortgage for 100% of the purchase price of a home is much more common today than a few years ago since most people don’t have a bunch of money to put down.
Also, in many cases the buyer will finance in the closing costs. And while every lender has somewhat different credit requirements, following are the basic requirements.
• A middle credit score (of the 3 bureaus) of 600. Most lenders recently bumped up the score requirement from 580 to 600. There are however, still a few lenders that will do 100% for a mid score of 580. Also, in most cases you must have at least 2 credit scores. If you only have 2, use the lower of the 2.
• No late rent payments for the last 12 months. The definition of late is 30 days late. As to proof of this, most lenders fall into 1 of 3 categories:-
1) Copies of canceled checks
2) A letter from a landlord
3) A few don’t even check.
• Time since a Bankruptcy varies all over the board. Some will do 100% if you are only 1 day out. Some want at least 2 years.
• Time since a foreclosure of 3 years. This is true with nearly everyone. One more note on foreclosures. Many lenders call a mortgage with a 120-day late a foreclosure even if it wasn’t actually foreclosed on. Sorry, don’t shoot the messenger.
• A maximum debt to income (or DTI) ratio of 50% and for some lenders 55%. A DTI is calculated by dividing all monthly debt payments including the proposed mortgage with taxes and insurance by your monthly gross income.
With many lenders, if you have a mid score of 640, you can “state” (don’t have to prove, within reason) your income. The rate is higher but it can get you over a DTI problem.
• Other – For people with No credit scores and scores below 580, there is still hope. Actually this could turn out to be the best deal ever if you qualify. This involves mostly government (FHA, VA, etc.) loans although there are a couple of non-government programs that do 100% with no scores.
While there is a good bit more work needed by you and your broker, these programs can be wonderful. For example, I have helped many people obtain 100% financing with these programs with 30 year fixed rates of 6.75 to 7% and a little mortgage insurance, versus 9%+ on other 100% loans.
The key is to have 4 trade lines, which usually don’t show on your credit (rent, utilities, insurance, cell phone, etc.) that have been on time (again, not 30 days late) the last 1 year. You also can’t have any collections, (Some programs will make an exception for medical.) judgments or bankruptcies in the last 2 years.
Well, there you have it. One last note, if your score is below 580 and you don’t qualify for the government programs I covered above, find a broker or credit reporting service that will analyze your credit to see what you can do to quickly raise your credit score.
Beware of all the quick fix credit repair services out there. Improving your credit score can sometimes be tricky but doable. For example, paying off an old collection can actually bring your score DOWN! I know this is hard to believe, but I have seen it.
Ron Stone is a Mortgage Loan Originator specializing in helping people with less than perfect credit to obtain a mortgage. He works in the states of Alabama and Florida.
To learn more about the great Alabama Mortgage programs (he has similar programs for Florida), visit him at http://www.alabama-mortgage-specialists.com,
In Men, Exercise Benefits Prostate, Sexuality
Health Notes from NewsMax Health
Protection against heart disease, stroke, diabetes, obesity, hypertension, memory loss, colon cancer, fractures, and depression should be enough to get men exercising. But those who need extra motivation should consider the added benefits to their prostates and sexuality, reports the May 2007 issue of Harvard Men’s Health Watch.
A 2006 study from Sweden reported that regular exercise is associated with a reduced risk of moderate and severe symptoms of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH).
After taking other risk factors into account, the most active men were 28 percent less likely to have substantial lower urinary tract symptoms than the least active men. The Harvard Men’s Health Watch notes that the effect of exercise on prostate cancer is less clear.
Some studies suggest that exercise can reduce risk, while others do not. Although erectile dysfunction is not life-threatening, it can surely impair quality of life. A Harvard study linked regular exercise to a 41 percent reduction in the risk of erectile dysfunction — all it took was about 30 minutes of walking a day.
And in 2004, a randomized clinical trial reported that moderate exercise (averaging less than 28 minutes a day) can help restore sexual performance in obese, middle-aged men with erectile dysfunction.
Editor's Note:
Prostate Cancer Is Nearly Epidemic — Prevent it!
More: Sexual Health Is Important for Men and Women.
Protection against heart disease, stroke, diabetes, obesity, hypertension, memory loss, colon cancer, fractures, and depression should be enough to get men exercising. But those who need extra motivation should consider the added benefits to their prostates and sexuality, reports the May 2007 issue of Harvard Men’s Health Watch.
A 2006 study from Sweden reported that regular exercise is associated with a reduced risk of moderate and severe symptoms of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH).
After taking other risk factors into account, the most active men were 28 percent less likely to have substantial lower urinary tract symptoms than the least active men. The Harvard Men’s Health Watch notes that the effect of exercise on prostate cancer is less clear.
Some studies suggest that exercise can reduce risk, while others do not. Although erectile dysfunction is not life-threatening, it can surely impair quality of life. A Harvard study linked regular exercise to a 41 percent reduction in the risk of erectile dysfunction — all it took was about 30 minutes of walking a day.
And in 2004, a randomized clinical trial reported that moderate exercise (averaging less than 28 minutes a day) can help restore sexual performance in obese, middle-aged men with erectile dysfunction.
Editor's Note:
Prostate Cancer Is Nearly Epidemic — Prevent it!
More: Sexual Health Is Important for Men and Women.
Strokes: Not Just for the Elderly
Health Notes from NewsMax Health
Johns Hopkins Children’s Center neurologists are sounding the alarm for parents about a common myth: that children don’t suffer strokes. In fact, nearly 3,200 children have so-called brain attacks each year, and half of them end up with permanent neurological damage, according to Lori Jordan, M.D.
“Strokes in children may occur even more often than brain tumors,” says Jordan, “but unlike cancer, sadly, strokes in children are sometimes not recognized and treated, or at least not as early as they should be.”
While some childhood strokes are linked to congenital and genetically caused heart and blood vessel abnormalities, as well as to blood disorders and viral infections such as chicken pox, an important — and largely unrecognized — risk factor is a tear or other traumatic injury to arteries in the neck or spine.
“Carotid or vertebral artery injury can lead to small tears, which generate blood clots that travel to the brain and cause a fourth of all strokes in children,” Jordan says. A common cause of such stroke-inducing neck trauma is whiplash sustained during a car accident.
Other causes include injuries from high-contact sports. Symptoms of neck trauma are neck pain on one side, accompanied by a one-sided headache, possibly with numbness and weakness on that side of the body. Contraceptives and other hormones also increase the risk of blood clots that can break off and get to the brain.
Jordan asks parents, coaches, and other caregivers to watch out for the following symptoms of stroke, which, in addition to blood clots, can be caused by bleeding in the brain after a blood vessel ruptures:
Sudden severe headache followed by confusion.
Sudden weakness on one side of the body.
Sudden drooping of the face on one side.
Mental confusion.
Slurred speech or absence of speech.
Seizures affecting one side of the body followed by weakness in the affected side.
Unexplained change in the level of alertness with weakness in one side of the body.
If symptoms occur, consider it a medical emergency, Jordan warns, “and get the child to an emergency room to reduce the likelihood of permanent brain damage.”
Editor's Note:
Your Belly Fat May Mean Heart Disease.
Johns Hopkins Children’s Center neurologists are sounding the alarm for parents about a common myth: that children don’t suffer strokes. In fact, nearly 3,200 children have so-called brain attacks each year, and half of them end up with permanent neurological damage, according to Lori Jordan, M.D.
“Strokes in children may occur even more often than brain tumors,” says Jordan, “but unlike cancer, sadly, strokes in children are sometimes not recognized and treated, or at least not as early as they should be.”
While some childhood strokes are linked to congenital and genetically caused heart and blood vessel abnormalities, as well as to blood disorders and viral infections such as chicken pox, an important — and largely unrecognized — risk factor is a tear or other traumatic injury to arteries in the neck or spine.
“Carotid or vertebral artery injury can lead to small tears, which generate blood clots that travel to the brain and cause a fourth of all strokes in children,” Jordan says. A common cause of such stroke-inducing neck trauma is whiplash sustained during a car accident.
Other causes include injuries from high-contact sports. Symptoms of neck trauma are neck pain on one side, accompanied by a one-sided headache, possibly with numbness and weakness on that side of the body. Contraceptives and other hormones also increase the risk of blood clots that can break off and get to the brain.
Jordan asks parents, coaches, and other caregivers to watch out for the following symptoms of stroke, which, in addition to blood clots, can be caused by bleeding in the brain after a blood vessel ruptures:
Sudden severe headache followed by confusion.
Sudden weakness on one side of the body.
Sudden drooping of the face on one side.
Mental confusion.
Slurred speech or absence of speech.
Seizures affecting one side of the body followed by weakness in the affected side.
Unexplained change in the level of alertness with weakness in one side of the body.
If symptoms occur, consider it a medical emergency, Jordan warns, “and get the child to an emergency room to reduce the likelihood of permanent brain damage.”
Editor's Note:
Your Belly Fat May Mean Heart Disease.
Successful People Focus On Their "Why", Un-Successful Focus On "Why Not"
By Greg Nicholls
The secret to success, the magic dust, one of the things that you need to know to succeed is revealed in this article. Read it a couple of times, comment on it and let me know if you have any questions.
Successful people have learned that they get what they focus on; if they are focusing on the things that are really important to them, the things that really drive them, they are simply focusing on their “Why”, that is why they continually succeed.
Un-Successful people are held back from success not because of their education (or lack of it), their financial situation, their lack of time, a disability, or any other reason that they have bought into; these are just good “Why Not” scenarios, circumstances that are being focused on.
The reason they are un-successful is simply because they are not focusing on their “Why”.
To change from being Un-Successful to being Successful begins by changing ones focus. Make a decision to begin to focus on your “Why” and ignore your “Why Not’s” by making a decision to attain your “Why” regardless of your circumstances.
There is no such thing as a “lot in life” if you think that you have one, it is only because you have not finished reading this article. Success is a choice, a choice to focus on an outcome that you would like to see or attain in your life; again, this is called your “Why”.
Sit down and write out what is important to you and do it right now, (un-successful people will not do this important step) your “Why” has to be clear in your mind.
Make sure that once you have written out all the things that are important to you (time with family, excess money in your life to donate, travel, work less, etc.) whatever it is, go back over the list and for each thing on the list write out why these are important to you specifically.
Example: Having excess money in my life to donate is important to me because after having seen how people live in the town of Soweto in South Africa and now, knowing that I can donate $1,000 to build a home that will have electricity, running water, a toilet, a yard to grow food and much more I know that being successful and having excess money will allow me to build 1,000 or more of these homes, improving the quality of life for a thousand families that deserve a better life!
So take some time and find your “why”, it is ok to have money, good things will happen from it; you just have to figure out “why” you should have it in your life. So create a void that needs to be filled by your success and go after it with the decision to succeed no matter what!
If you succeed you can show people how they can succeed and ultimately make this world a better place to live.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Find out how Greg Nicholls has achieved Financial Success by subscribing to the “Deserve Money Newsletter” for free. Visit http://www.DeserveMoney.com right now for all the details.
Greg is also known for teaching people a simple system on how to build a successful business while working from home; for more information about the business that brought home a 60-70 hour per week executive, who now makes more money on 1/3 the hours; contact Greg by email at info@DeserveMoney.com, or call his toll free number right now from anywhere in North America 24/7 at 1-800-388-4563, or from outside North America to Canada at +778-786-2287 to setup your appointment.
Greg Nicholls, a 36 year old Husband, Father & Entrepreneur will help you understand why you Deserve Money in your life and how to get it! To subscribe to his free weekly newsletter, visit http://www.deservemoney.com and begin to benefit from his inspiring insights today.
The secret to success, the magic dust, one of the things that you need to know to succeed is revealed in this article. Read it a couple of times, comment on it and let me know if you have any questions.
Successful people have learned that they get what they focus on; if they are focusing on the things that are really important to them, the things that really drive them, they are simply focusing on their “Why”, that is why they continually succeed.
Un-Successful people are held back from success not because of their education (or lack of it), their financial situation, their lack of time, a disability, or any other reason that they have bought into; these are just good “Why Not” scenarios, circumstances that are being focused on.
The reason they are un-successful is simply because they are not focusing on their “Why”.
To change from being Un-Successful to being Successful begins by changing ones focus. Make a decision to begin to focus on your “Why” and ignore your “Why Not’s” by making a decision to attain your “Why” regardless of your circumstances.
There is no such thing as a “lot in life” if you think that you have one, it is only because you have not finished reading this article. Success is a choice, a choice to focus on an outcome that you would like to see or attain in your life; again, this is called your “Why”.
Sit down and write out what is important to you and do it right now, (un-successful people will not do this important step) your “Why” has to be clear in your mind.
Make sure that once you have written out all the things that are important to you (time with family, excess money in your life to donate, travel, work less, etc.) whatever it is, go back over the list and for each thing on the list write out why these are important to you specifically.
Example: Having excess money in my life to donate is important to me because after having seen how people live in the town of Soweto in South Africa and now, knowing that I can donate $1,000 to build a home that will have electricity, running water, a toilet, a yard to grow food and much more I know that being successful and having excess money will allow me to build 1,000 or more of these homes, improving the quality of life for a thousand families that deserve a better life!
So take some time and find your “why”, it is ok to have money, good things will happen from it; you just have to figure out “why” you should have it in your life. So create a void that needs to be filled by your success and go after it with the decision to succeed no matter what!
If you succeed you can show people how they can succeed and ultimately make this world a better place to live.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Find out how Greg Nicholls has achieved Financial Success by subscribing to the “Deserve Money Newsletter” for free. Visit http://www.DeserveMoney.com right now for all the details.
Greg is also known for teaching people a simple system on how to build a successful business while working from home; for more information about the business that brought home a 60-70 hour per week executive, who now makes more money on 1/3 the hours; contact Greg by email at info@DeserveMoney.com, or call his toll free number right now from anywhere in North America 24/7 at 1-800-388-4563, or from outside North America to Canada at +778-786-2287 to setup your appointment.
Greg Nicholls, a 36 year old Husband, Father & Entrepreneur will help you understand why you Deserve Money in your life and how to get it! To subscribe to his free weekly newsletter, visit http://www.deservemoney.com and begin to benefit from his inspiring insights today.
You Need Personal Development To Deserve Money
By Greg Nicholls
Your bank account is a reflection of your attitude; the way you think and the way you act is a direct reflection on what you get in your life, if you are a negative person, I am sure there is a “-“ in front of your bank balance. Personal development is what you can do to be in a position to deserve money.
Negative Attitude = Negative Bank Balance (Credit Card Debt, Overdrawn Bank Accounts, etc)
Positive attitude = Positive Bank Balance(Cash and Investment Rich, Donate Money, Cars & House Paid For)
Think about people that you know; do the people without money have a very happy existence? Are they un-happy because they do not have money, or do you think that they do not have money because they are un-happy?
There is a huge misconception that you have to have money to be happy, when it fact you have to be happy to have money!
You are in fact rewarded for your attitude; the more you come to appreciate yourself and honour your own values, the happier you will be. The happier you are the more money you will have. It is that simple.
The trick is getting you attitude in check.
Personal development will help you identify your core values. Once this is done you will be able to set some goals around what is important to you. When you are setting out to attain your goals, happiness comes as a result of pursuing your interests. When you are happy about what you are doing, money comes as a result, 100 out of 100 times.
Look for a personal development “Program”, not just a book or a tape; a program will bring you through a learning curve about your inner self. Believe it or not, it takes time to discover who you are, usually about 90 days.
These programs are not cheap, but they are worth every penny because the money you spend on it will make you more committed to following through on the 90 days. If it was free, you probably would do nothing with it.
So spend some good money and make some sacrifices to do it and you will be in a state of “I expect to see results for the money I spent” and you will be more likely to follow through.
In a nutshell, happiness is a choice, so if you are wanting to learn how to have a better attitude and attract wealth into your life, make the decision to change.
Your bank account is a reflection of your attitude; the way you think and the way you act is a direct reflection on what you get in your life, if you are a negative person, I am sure there is a “-“ in front of your bank balance. Personal development is what you can do to be in a position to deserve money.
Negative Attitude = Negative Bank Balance (Credit Card Debt, Overdrawn Bank Accounts, etc)
Positive attitude = Positive Bank Balance(Cash and Investment Rich, Donate Money, Cars & House Paid For)
Think about people that you know; do the people without money have a very happy existence? Are they un-happy because they do not have money, or do you think that they do not have money because they are un-happy?
There is a huge misconception that you have to have money to be happy, when it fact you have to be happy to have money!
You are in fact rewarded for your attitude; the more you come to appreciate yourself and honour your own values, the happier you will be. The happier you are the more money you will have. It is that simple.
The trick is getting you attitude in check.
Personal development will help you identify your core values. Once this is done you will be able to set some goals around what is important to you. When you are setting out to attain your goals, happiness comes as a result of pursuing your interests. When you are happy about what you are doing, money comes as a result, 100 out of 100 times.
Look for a personal development “Program”, not just a book or a tape; a program will bring you through a learning curve about your inner self. Believe it or not, it takes time to discover who you are, usually about 90 days.
These programs are not cheap, but they are worth every penny because the money you spend on it will make you more committed to following through on the 90 days. If it was free, you probably would do nothing with it.
So spend some good money and make some sacrifices to do it and you will be in a state of “I expect to see results for the money I spent” and you will be more likely to follow through.
In a nutshell, happiness is a choice, so if you are wanting to learn how to have a better attitude and attract wealth into your life, make the decision to change.
Pinot Noir: chasing greatness
Around for more than a century, the grape is still challenging vintners to get it right. And now it has momentum on its side.
By Patrick Comiskey
Raise a glass of California Pinot Noir, and what are the aromas that greet you? There's fruit -- wild strawberry, black cherry, plum -- but a great Pinot Noir employs its fruit as a meeting point for other nuances: scents of dark loamy earth and coastal forest, lavender and rose, a spice cabinet of savory herbs.
When you sip, you encounter haunting complexity of flavor, velvety textures and, most important, hints to where it was grown. After more than 100 years of growing the grape, California winemakers are still chasing that ideal.
Pinot's calling card, after all, is terroir expression, its uncanny ability to convey a distinct sense of place, just in its aromas and flavors. No other grape is as evocative; none has its powers of seduction.
Cabernet may still hold the pole position in California, but for the moment, Pinot has all the momentum. Through fits and starts, that momentum has been gathering.
Today, producers are scrambling to meet demand, and there's a swelling middle ground of new, somewhat generic Pinots: tasty, juicy wines with generous extracted fruit flavors, plush textures and soft tannins, often sweetened by generous oak.
These wines may be yummy, but they're hardly distinctive. For the most exciting California Pinots these days, you have to head out to the edge, exploring wines from producers who are experimenting with the frontier regions of grape growing.
Since Pinot's poignant, vulnerable star turn in the 2004 movie "Sideways," we've become a nation smitten with it.According to industry analyst ACNielsen, sales of domestic Pinot Noir have doubled in the last two years.
Since 2000, acreage has more than doubled, with thousands of acres of new plantings each year; entire Chardonnay vineyards are being grafted over to Pinot Noir in Monterey County and even in the Central Valley.
A glut that materialized in 2004 was obliterated by the post-"Sideways" uptick in demand, one that shows no signs of waning.
In the background
Such meteoric growth makes it hard to remember that before 2001, Pinot fans formed a subculture in the California wine world; it was beneath the notice of many lovers of Cabernet, Chardonnay and Merlot.
The Pinot Noir grape has been in the ground in California since the middle of the 19th century. Author John Winthrop Haeger ("North American Pinot Noir") notes that in 1858, Buena Vista winery founder Agoston Haraszthy included the variety among those for sale at his winery in Sonoma County.
Soon after, nursery catalogs referred to red varieties by their presumed Burgundian origin, like Chambertin and Pinot d'Epernay. Settlers preferred hardier varieties such as Zinfandel and Charbono, however, and almost as soon as it took root, Pinot fell into decline.
Nevertheless, it managed to survive both phylloxera and Prohibition, and as early as 1941, author Frank Schoonmaker believed Pinot Noir to be "the one serious rival to Cabernet Sauvignon in California."
Pinot Noirs routinely won gold medals in state and county fair wine contests, and by the early 1960s, Napa Valley had as many acres planted to Pinot Noir as to Cabernet.
But in the early '70s, the grape's popularity declined dramatically behind its contemporaries, Cabernet and Chardonnay, each of which had been given a huge boost in public perception by the Judgment of Paris tasting in 1976.
It didn't help that the grape fared poorly when subjected to aggressive, modern winemaking techniques.Critics of the period complained of vegetal aromas, weedy flavors, thin textures and painful astringency. But in the late '70s, things began to change.
In California and Oregon, winemakers learned to employ the finesse that the grape required, and wineries such as Sanford, Calera, Au Bon Climat, Acacia and Saintsbury emerged as signature Pinot houses.
These were joined by an astonishing core group of growers and winemakers from the Russian River Valley, including Merry Edwards, Gary Farrell, Tom Dehlinger, the Rochioli family, and Burt Williams and Ed Selyem. A similar flowering was occurring in Oregon.
The expansion of acreage devoted to Pinot was accelerated in the 1990s by the propagation of clones from Burgundy that were well-suited to the outer reaches of California's climate.
Known collectively as Dijon clones, these ripened earlier than anything then in the ground; suddenly regions previously considered too marginal to support any grape production became viable sites.
Today, in search of that elusive sense of a great terroir for Pinot, California vintners are growing it in undreamed-of places, sometimes on the fringe of existing appellations and sometimes miles from any grape-growing area.
Consider the Pinot vineyard planted by identical twins Jim and Bob Varner, just south of Woodside on the San Francisco Peninsula. Set on an east-bearing slope facing the bay, it's probably the northernmost commercial vineyard on the peninsula -- there's no other vineyard in sight.
Technically their vineyard, called Spring Ridge, is in the Santa Cruz Mountains AVA (American Viticultural Area), but even for that sprawling appellation, it's out there.
Only one ridge separates the vines from the Pacific, so the site is oppressively cool, even for Pinot Noir; and yet just six miles south lies Ridge's Monte Bello Vineyard, arguably one of the world's greatest sites for Cabernet Sauvignon.
Fog, by rights, should roar over the vineyard like it does over the Golden Gate Bridge, but it doesn't; an inversion layer of air hovering over the bay prevents the fog line from advancing. So on a typical summer day the fog rushes in and grinds to a halt over the vineyard, where it's held in check.
"It comes one-third of the way down the hill," winemaker Bob Varner says, "and just hangs there."Wine made from grapes grown here carries with it an apt tension. With its gentle florals of violets and savory, wild cherry flavors, the 2004 Varner Pinot is cool, poised, unique.
Generally speaking, frontier vineyards have yielded a darker profile of fruit than in more traditional enclaves such as the Russian River Valley or Carneros.
A Pacific view
Aubaine Vineyard is one such site. Located near the Central Coast town of Nipomo, just a few hundred yards west of the Arroyo Grande Valley, the vineyard lies on the western slope of the hills that form that appellation's western border.
Two wineries, Stephen Ross and Sinor-La Vallee, draw fruit from there. At 800 feet of elevation, Aubaine overlooks a broad plain that slopes directly to the Pacific; in fact, it is one of the few vineyards in California where you can actually see the ocean, which fairly guarantees an intense maritime effect.
The yields here are painfully small, and both wineries produce an intense, vivid wine, with abundant but fine tannins and uncommonly blue fruit.Santa Rita Hills in Santa Barbara County shares this reputation for fruit intensity.
Thirty years ago the region was considered too cold, too marginal and too exotic for any but the most stubborn of winemakers -- such as Richard Sanford, whose leafy, cool weather Pinots benefited from a fair amount of time in the bottle.
Sanford's lead encouraged others, including Bryan Babcock and Pierre Lafond, to put down vines, and many exciting wineries followed, including Melville, Loring, Sea Smoke and Foley.
"There's a strong commonality to the wines here," says Peter Cargasacchi, whose family-owned vineyard lies on the western end of this very cool appellation, and who recently started his own eponymous label.
Santa Rita Hills wines have a mesmerizing intensity to them, characterized by firm tannins and dark blue fruit flavors: blueberries, black raspberries, plum.
"Blue" wasn't a common fruit descriptor for Pinot Noir until fairly recently, ushered into use by the powerhouse wines of the Santa Lucia Highlands near Monterey, where noted grower and personality Gary Pisoni first planted his vineyard.
Pisoni Vineyard-designated Pinots burst into the market like a blueberry bombshell in the mid-'90s, and critics and consumers marveled at their brilliant, almost unnatural intensity.For years it was unclear to me how such cool, marginal places could produce such dark, concentrated wines.
What made the blue wines blue?Part of the answer lies with the wind. Many of the landscapes in Pinot's frontier growing areas serve as gateways for maritime air as it's drawn to warmer inland valleys. That daily onslaught wreaks havoc on a grapevine's physiology.
"The wind just sucks on that vine," Cargasacchi says, "and slows its rate of evapo-transpiration [its ability to pull up water and nutrients]. Eventually it just shuts down."That devigoration, explains Jeff Frey, Aubaine's vineyard manager, stunts the growth cycle.
"The berries are definitely smaller," he says, "and the skins are tougher too." Greater fruit concentration and intensity are the result.
The sprawling Sonoma Coast appellation produces distinctive Pinots from a variety of regions ranging from its blustery outlying ridges -- "the outer coast," as it's come to be known -- to the Petaluma Gap, through which Pacific winds hurtle toward the Central Valley.Fog is an indicator of the frontier edge of Pinot territory.
It's a factor in the Anderson Valley and in the Russian River Valley, where its daily incursions are so regular in the summer that, as grower Ted Klopp told me, "You can set your watch to it.
"In 2005 the Russian River Valley AVA expanded its southern and western borders by more than 30,000 acres to better reflect the geography and drainage patterns of the watershed. When the AVA boundary was originally set in 1983, not a single vineyard existed outside of its border and no one anticipated any. Now there are several.
Foggy terrain
It's where you find a portion of the Green Valley sub-AVA. This jumble of hills represents the coolest, most fog-bound section of the Russian River AVA, and its southern edge is home to vineyards for wineries such as Dutton-Goldfield, Orogeny, Tandem and Capiaux, which are making some of the more intensely expressive wines in the region.East of the Green Valley, most of the vineyard plantings have occurred in the last 10 years.
It's where Merry Edwards has established her own estate vineyard, and she draws from several others in the area, as do Patz & Hall, Freeman and De Loach.Klopp, one of Edwards' sources, says there's little similarity between this new area and the more established vineyards on Westside Road, such as Rochioli.
"We're only five miles from the ocean," he says, "so we're much cooler by day and much warmer by night."Flavors in this area's wines are a bit more generous, with a bit more amplitude and breadth, but they still possess an impressive concentration, as if the Russian River texture has been lightly compressed.
Such nuances are what Pinot expresses better than any other grape variety, and that ability is why with each new boundary crossed, winemakers are looking to head over the next hill, and with each new bottle, wine lovers have more to explore too.
By Patrick Comiskey
Raise a glass of California Pinot Noir, and what are the aromas that greet you? There's fruit -- wild strawberry, black cherry, plum -- but a great Pinot Noir employs its fruit as a meeting point for other nuances: scents of dark loamy earth and coastal forest, lavender and rose, a spice cabinet of savory herbs.
When you sip, you encounter haunting complexity of flavor, velvety textures and, most important, hints to where it was grown. After more than 100 years of growing the grape, California winemakers are still chasing that ideal.
Pinot's calling card, after all, is terroir expression, its uncanny ability to convey a distinct sense of place, just in its aromas and flavors. No other grape is as evocative; none has its powers of seduction.
Cabernet may still hold the pole position in California, but for the moment, Pinot has all the momentum. Through fits and starts, that momentum has been gathering.
Today, producers are scrambling to meet demand, and there's a swelling middle ground of new, somewhat generic Pinots: tasty, juicy wines with generous extracted fruit flavors, plush textures and soft tannins, often sweetened by generous oak.
These wines may be yummy, but they're hardly distinctive. For the most exciting California Pinots these days, you have to head out to the edge, exploring wines from producers who are experimenting with the frontier regions of grape growing.
Since Pinot's poignant, vulnerable star turn in the 2004 movie "Sideways," we've become a nation smitten with it.According to industry analyst ACNielsen, sales of domestic Pinot Noir have doubled in the last two years.
Since 2000, acreage has more than doubled, with thousands of acres of new plantings each year; entire Chardonnay vineyards are being grafted over to Pinot Noir in Monterey County and even in the Central Valley.
A glut that materialized in 2004 was obliterated by the post-"Sideways" uptick in demand, one that shows no signs of waning.
In the background
Such meteoric growth makes it hard to remember that before 2001, Pinot fans formed a subculture in the California wine world; it was beneath the notice of many lovers of Cabernet, Chardonnay and Merlot.
The Pinot Noir grape has been in the ground in California since the middle of the 19th century. Author John Winthrop Haeger ("North American Pinot Noir") notes that in 1858, Buena Vista winery founder Agoston Haraszthy included the variety among those for sale at his winery in Sonoma County.
Soon after, nursery catalogs referred to red varieties by their presumed Burgundian origin, like Chambertin and Pinot d'Epernay. Settlers preferred hardier varieties such as Zinfandel and Charbono, however, and almost as soon as it took root, Pinot fell into decline.
Nevertheless, it managed to survive both phylloxera and Prohibition, and as early as 1941, author Frank Schoonmaker believed Pinot Noir to be "the one serious rival to Cabernet Sauvignon in California."
Pinot Noirs routinely won gold medals in state and county fair wine contests, and by the early 1960s, Napa Valley had as many acres planted to Pinot Noir as to Cabernet.
But in the early '70s, the grape's popularity declined dramatically behind its contemporaries, Cabernet and Chardonnay, each of which had been given a huge boost in public perception by the Judgment of Paris tasting in 1976.
It didn't help that the grape fared poorly when subjected to aggressive, modern winemaking techniques.Critics of the period complained of vegetal aromas, weedy flavors, thin textures and painful astringency. But in the late '70s, things began to change.
In California and Oregon, winemakers learned to employ the finesse that the grape required, and wineries such as Sanford, Calera, Au Bon Climat, Acacia and Saintsbury emerged as signature Pinot houses.
These were joined by an astonishing core group of growers and winemakers from the Russian River Valley, including Merry Edwards, Gary Farrell, Tom Dehlinger, the Rochioli family, and Burt Williams and Ed Selyem. A similar flowering was occurring in Oregon.
The expansion of acreage devoted to Pinot was accelerated in the 1990s by the propagation of clones from Burgundy that were well-suited to the outer reaches of California's climate.
Known collectively as Dijon clones, these ripened earlier than anything then in the ground; suddenly regions previously considered too marginal to support any grape production became viable sites.
Today, in search of that elusive sense of a great terroir for Pinot, California vintners are growing it in undreamed-of places, sometimes on the fringe of existing appellations and sometimes miles from any grape-growing area.
Consider the Pinot vineyard planted by identical twins Jim and Bob Varner, just south of Woodside on the San Francisco Peninsula. Set on an east-bearing slope facing the bay, it's probably the northernmost commercial vineyard on the peninsula -- there's no other vineyard in sight.
Technically their vineyard, called Spring Ridge, is in the Santa Cruz Mountains AVA (American Viticultural Area), but even for that sprawling appellation, it's out there.
Only one ridge separates the vines from the Pacific, so the site is oppressively cool, even for Pinot Noir; and yet just six miles south lies Ridge's Monte Bello Vineyard, arguably one of the world's greatest sites for Cabernet Sauvignon.
Fog, by rights, should roar over the vineyard like it does over the Golden Gate Bridge, but it doesn't; an inversion layer of air hovering over the bay prevents the fog line from advancing. So on a typical summer day the fog rushes in and grinds to a halt over the vineyard, where it's held in check.
"It comes one-third of the way down the hill," winemaker Bob Varner says, "and just hangs there."Wine made from grapes grown here carries with it an apt tension. With its gentle florals of violets and savory, wild cherry flavors, the 2004 Varner Pinot is cool, poised, unique.
Generally speaking, frontier vineyards have yielded a darker profile of fruit than in more traditional enclaves such as the Russian River Valley or Carneros.
A Pacific view
Aubaine Vineyard is one such site. Located near the Central Coast town of Nipomo, just a few hundred yards west of the Arroyo Grande Valley, the vineyard lies on the western slope of the hills that form that appellation's western border.
Two wineries, Stephen Ross and Sinor-La Vallee, draw fruit from there. At 800 feet of elevation, Aubaine overlooks a broad plain that slopes directly to the Pacific; in fact, it is one of the few vineyards in California where you can actually see the ocean, which fairly guarantees an intense maritime effect.
The yields here are painfully small, and both wineries produce an intense, vivid wine, with abundant but fine tannins and uncommonly blue fruit.Santa Rita Hills in Santa Barbara County shares this reputation for fruit intensity.
Thirty years ago the region was considered too cold, too marginal and too exotic for any but the most stubborn of winemakers -- such as Richard Sanford, whose leafy, cool weather Pinots benefited from a fair amount of time in the bottle.
Sanford's lead encouraged others, including Bryan Babcock and Pierre Lafond, to put down vines, and many exciting wineries followed, including Melville, Loring, Sea Smoke and Foley.
"There's a strong commonality to the wines here," says Peter Cargasacchi, whose family-owned vineyard lies on the western end of this very cool appellation, and who recently started his own eponymous label.
Santa Rita Hills wines have a mesmerizing intensity to them, characterized by firm tannins and dark blue fruit flavors: blueberries, black raspberries, plum.
"Blue" wasn't a common fruit descriptor for Pinot Noir until fairly recently, ushered into use by the powerhouse wines of the Santa Lucia Highlands near Monterey, where noted grower and personality Gary Pisoni first planted his vineyard.
Pisoni Vineyard-designated Pinots burst into the market like a blueberry bombshell in the mid-'90s, and critics and consumers marveled at their brilliant, almost unnatural intensity.For years it was unclear to me how such cool, marginal places could produce such dark, concentrated wines.
What made the blue wines blue?Part of the answer lies with the wind. Many of the landscapes in Pinot's frontier growing areas serve as gateways for maritime air as it's drawn to warmer inland valleys. That daily onslaught wreaks havoc on a grapevine's physiology.
"The wind just sucks on that vine," Cargasacchi says, "and slows its rate of evapo-transpiration [its ability to pull up water and nutrients]. Eventually it just shuts down."That devigoration, explains Jeff Frey, Aubaine's vineyard manager, stunts the growth cycle.
"The berries are definitely smaller," he says, "and the skins are tougher too." Greater fruit concentration and intensity are the result.
The sprawling Sonoma Coast appellation produces distinctive Pinots from a variety of regions ranging from its blustery outlying ridges -- "the outer coast," as it's come to be known -- to the Petaluma Gap, through which Pacific winds hurtle toward the Central Valley.Fog is an indicator of the frontier edge of Pinot territory.
It's a factor in the Anderson Valley and in the Russian River Valley, where its daily incursions are so regular in the summer that, as grower Ted Klopp told me, "You can set your watch to it.
"In 2005 the Russian River Valley AVA expanded its southern and western borders by more than 30,000 acres to better reflect the geography and drainage patterns of the watershed. When the AVA boundary was originally set in 1983, not a single vineyard existed outside of its border and no one anticipated any. Now there are several.
Foggy terrain
It's where you find a portion of the Green Valley sub-AVA. This jumble of hills represents the coolest, most fog-bound section of the Russian River AVA, and its southern edge is home to vineyards for wineries such as Dutton-Goldfield, Orogeny, Tandem and Capiaux, which are making some of the more intensely expressive wines in the region.East of the Green Valley, most of the vineyard plantings have occurred in the last 10 years.
It's where Merry Edwards has established her own estate vineyard, and she draws from several others in the area, as do Patz & Hall, Freeman and De Loach.Klopp, one of Edwards' sources, says there's little similarity between this new area and the more established vineyards on Westside Road, such as Rochioli.
"We're only five miles from the ocean," he says, "so we're much cooler by day and much warmer by night."Flavors in this area's wines are a bit more generous, with a bit more amplitude and breadth, but they still possess an impressive concentration, as if the Russian River texture has been lightly compressed.
Such nuances are what Pinot expresses better than any other grape variety, and that ability is why with each new boundary crossed, winemakers are looking to head over the next hill, and with each new bottle, wine lovers have more to explore too.
Hurry Up and Slow Down
By Robert Plotkin
The restaurant was packed, the lounge was filled past capacity and the bar was like a war zone. The underside of being a popular joint on New Year’s Eve, I thought to myself as I slowly made my way to the service station at the bar.
Lori was obviously in the weeds. “No one ever told me there’d be days like this!” And with that she grabbed her drinks and bolted toward the hot end of the bar. That was almost 25 years ago, but it still clear as a bell. I was about to learn a valuable lesson about managing a bar.
Lori was a superb, seasoned bartender, the implacable type and here she was melting down under the weight of the revelry. I glanced at the other four bartenders working and they too were sweating, looking frenetic and seeming anything but hospitable. The two bar backs seemed close to tears.
Out of the corner of my eye I saw Lori steaming back, and from out of nowhere I raised my voice and bellowed her to slow down. Her eyes shot open, “What?!” She looked stunned as if I had just demanded she drop and give me fifty.
“No, no, I’m serious, slow down. It’s your New Year’s Eve too. Enjoy it and slow down. I mean it!” I started repeating the same thing to my other bartenders until they blinked in recognition. Slowly, excruciating slowly, they regained control of themselves and began working like professionals. Best of all, they went back to preparing cocktails with care rather than flinging booze around.
It turned out to be a great night. What’s interesting is that none of the guests pressing against the bar seemed to notice that the bartenders had shifted from panic mode into cool, calm and collected.
What I learned that night about managing a bar has served me well. Bartenders can’t make superior cocktails while jogging on treadmills and a sweaty, stressed out countenance does little to engender fuzzy feelings in your guests.
Therefore, my steadfast rule of engagement is regardless of the din and madness, slow down and craft each cocktail like it was for your childhood idol.
Speed kills.
ROBERT PLOTKIN is the author of numerous books including The Original Guide to American Cocktails and Drinks --5th Edition. He can be reached at BarMedia, 1-800-421-7179, or e-mail him at robert@barmedia.com.
The restaurant was packed, the lounge was filled past capacity and the bar was like a war zone. The underside of being a popular joint on New Year’s Eve, I thought to myself as I slowly made my way to the service station at the bar.
Lori was obviously in the weeds. “No one ever told me there’d be days like this!” And with that she grabbed her drinks and bolted toward the hot end of the bar. That was almost 25 years ago, but it still clear as a bell. I was about to learn a valuable lesson about managing a bar.
Lori was a superb, seasoned bartender, the implacable type and here she was melting down under the weight of the revelry. I glanced at the other four bartenders working and they too were sweating, looking frenetic and seeming anything but hospitable. The two bar backs seemed close to tears.
Out of the corner of my eye I saw Lori steaming back, and from out of nowhere I raised my voice and bellowed her to slow down. Her eyes shot open, “What?!” She looked stunned as if I had just demanded she drop and give me fifty.
“No, no, I’m serious, slow down. It’s your New Year’s Eve too. Enjoy it and slow down. I mean it!” I started repeating the same thing to my other bartenders until they blinked in recognition. Slowly, excruciating slowly, they regained control of themselves and began working like professionals. Best of all, they went back to preparing cocktails with care rather than flinging booze around.
It turned out to be a great night. What’s interesting is that none of the guests pressing against the bar seemed to notice that the bartenders had shifted from panic mode into cool, calm and collected.
What I learned that night about managing a bar has served me well. Bartenders can’t make superior cocktails while jogging on treadmills and a sweaty, stressed out countenance does little to engender fuzzy feelings in your guests.
Therefore, my steadfast rule of engagement is regardless of the din and madness, slow down and craft each cocktail like it was for your childhood idol.
Speed kills.
ROBERT PLOTKIN is the author of numerous books including The Original Guide to American Cocktails and Drinks --5th Edition. He can be reached at BarMedia, 1-800-421-7179, or e-mail him at robert@barmedia.com.
Monday, May 07, 2007
How to cure yourself of anxiety disorders using self help methods.
By: Thomas Bronson
Suffering from an anxiety disorder is no picnic and if you suffer from any type of anxiety disorder youll know this. Youll also know that the hardest step in curing your anxiety disorder is admitting it to yourself.
Once youve managed this however, there are a number of options available for you to find a cure for your anxiety disorders. And until you do one of the best stop-gap methods to help you cope with your anxiety attacks is your own form of Anxiety Self Help.
Self help strategy represents one of the common ways that individuals suffering from anxiety and panic attacks may utilize to cope with excessive stress and tension in their lives.
With ordinary efforts and not much difficulties and hassles, an individual may cope with anxiety symptoms and regain a balanced lifestyle by progressively incorporating the daily and routine activities into your own form of self healing plan.
Activities in moderation may achieve the result of lessening of anxiety, fear or dread; however, it is at potential of becoming detrimental when they are overly compulsive and preclude other means for relief and comfort.
Therefore, it is imperative to appreciate that ordinary efforts may not seem to work well with copying with overwhelming stress and the need to refer for professional and expert help is paramount for seeking the best course of treatment that addresses your symptoms.
Talking through your feelings with your supportive listeners who may include your close family members, friends, relatives or even co-workers of purpose-support group, has often been proven to be effective in diminishing the intensity of your anxiety or panic disorder.
You have braced up and come so far to admitting your condition, do not fear to talk about and tell your loved ones about your condition and need for their special understanding and continual support.
As far as they are concerned, they appreciate an understanding of your condition so that they can render their support and encouragement to assist you in your recovery process. Therefore, always keep a list of phone numbers of your contacts with you!
When an attack is imminent, contact the persons on your phone list and talk to them; they can be there as your supportive listener. Another useful self help strategy is to practice relaxation methods that can include muscular relaxation techniques, swimming, stretching and so forth.
By carrying out relaxation methods in a non-excessive and tolerable manner, it can prove helpful in lowering the anxiety, dread or fear of anxiety disorder. Breathing properly and in a meditative manner is another great must-do in the anxiety self help department and is one of the easiest methods available to you.
You can do this anywhere and anytime that you feel a panic attack coming on. Proper breathing techniques can be learned through a variety of methods and can even be self learnt if you can find the correct documentation on it.
By understanding that there are more self help routines that are available and not limited to some of which Ive outlined above, you can better deal with your circumstance and manage your anxiety by exposing yourself to trying many other alternatives during your attack.
I cannot stress enough that though they provide relief from your attack, ordinary efforts like these are not able to be effective in coping with anxiety or stress that have reached an overwhelming level.
So, please reach out for your doctor or professional counselor to discuss and seek proper care and assistance.Thomas Bronson is the author for Curing Your Anxiety and Panic Attacks giving detailed information on how to treat oneself completely from the suffering of anxiety disorder. Find out more at www.AnxietyDisorderCure.com .
Suffering from an anxiety disorder is no picnic and if you suffer from any type of anxiety disorder youll know this. Youll also know that the hardest step in curing your anxiety disorder is admitting it to yourself.
Once youve managed this however, there are a number of options available for you to find a cure for your anxiety disorders. And until you do one of the best stop-gap methods to help you cope with your anxiety attacks is your own form of Anxiety Self Help.
Self help strategy represents one of the common ways that individuals suffering from anxiety and panic attacks may utilize to cope with excessive stress and tension in their lives.
With ordinary efforts and not much difficulties and hassles, an individual may cope with anxiety symptoms and regain a balanced lifestyle by progressively incorporating the daily and routine activities into your own form of self healing plan.
Activities in moderation may achieve the result of lessening of anxiety, fear or dread; however, it is at potential of becoming detrimental when they are overly compulsive and preclude other means for relief and comfort.
Therefore, it is imperative to appreciate that ordinary efforts may not seem to work well with copying with overwhelming stress and the need to refer for professional and expert help is paramount for seeking the best course of treatment that addresses your symptoms.
Talking through your feelings with your supportive listeners who may include your close family members, friends, relatives or even co-workers of purpose-support group, has often been proven to be effective in diminishing the intensity of your anxiety or panic disorder.
You have braced up and come so far to admitting your condition, do not fear to talk about and tell your loved ones about your condition and need for their special understanding and continual support.
As far as they are concerned, they appreciate an understanding of your condition so that they can render their support and encouragement to assist you in your recovery process. Therefore, always keep a list of phone numbers of your contacts with you!
When an attack is imminent, contact the persons on your phone list and talk to them; they can be there as your supportive listener. Another useful self help strategy is to practice relaxation methods that can include muscular relaxation techniques, swimming, stretching and so forth.
By carrying out relaxation methods in a non-excessive and tolerable manner, it can prove helpful in lowering the anxiety, dread or fear of anxiety disorder. Breathing properly and in a meditative manner is another great must-do in the anxiety self help department and is one of the easiest methods available to you.
You can do this anywhere and anytime that you feel a panic attack coming on. Proper breathing techniques can be learned through a variety of methods and can even be self learnt if you can find the correct documentation on it.
By understanding that there are more self help routines that are available and not limited to some of which Ive outlined above, you can better deal with your circumstance and manage your anxiety by exposing yourself to trying many other alternatives during your attack.
I cannot stress enough that though they provide relief from your attack, ordinary efforts like these are not able to be effective in coping with anxiety or stress that have reached an overwhelming level.
So, please reach out for your doctor or professional counselor to discuss and seek proper care and assistance.Thomas Bronson is the author for Curing Your Anxiety and Panic Attacks giving detailed information on how to treat oneself completely from the suffering of anxiety disorder. Find out more at www.AnxietyDisorderCure.com .
Quick Weight Loss Tips – Ready to Lose Weight Now?
By: Davion Wong
Quick weight loss is not impossible but if you are thinking that it happens instantly without any effort on your part, you are seriously misled or living in delusion.
If you are willing to observe and stick with a proper plan, together with steps and quick weight loss tips I will reveal in this article, you will find yourself ready for some fast weight loss. Are you ready to lose weight starting from today?
Weight loss and diet programs come and go. Some are just the fad of today, and people chase after them without fully understanding if they would work for them. Of course, there are some long-standing ones which do work such as the Atkins and Cambridge Diets.
However, over-relying on a special diet program is not for everyone due to our different genetic make-up. There could be adverse side-effects that could surface and result in long-term health problems.Weight loss is a lifestyle than a physical act.
Let’s take a closer look at why most people fail in their weight loss attempts. Survey results showed that the majority failed due to the lack of proper preparation. To be more specific, their will and motivation to lose weight are not strong enough and they give up easily each time a weight loss program does not work for them.
Many others give in fast to temptations of personal indulgence like food, snacks and the like. Still there are some who simple find it too tough to work out physically. Unless you take your weight loss seriously, there is a high chance that you will throw in the towel after a while.
Assuming you are serious about losing weight, you then qualify as a good candidate to apply those quick weight loss tips shared here. Losing weight successfully requires your mindset to be fixated on your quick weight loss plan and goal, no matter which route you have chosen.
Plans do work but only if we work on them. Ask yourself what are the reasons for you wanting to lose weight. Make sure they are motivating enough. Think of the worst case scenario should you fail; the ugly stares at your fat tummy, not feeling confident when approaching the girl/guy you wish to date?
The purpose of this whole exercise is to condition your thinking. Ok, once you have found the strong reasons to lose weight, you are one step ahead of many others.
Now, we will look at 3 practical quick weight loss tips:
1. Be Prepared to Put in Effort
Your fat does not melt while you are sleeping or dreaming about it. You need to do something about it. We live in a world where everything seems to be ideal in the media. The movies we watch feature only beautiful ladies with excellent figures, handsome looking men with nice abs, and so on.
TV commercials flash nice advertisements with a famous celebrity endorsing some slimming pills that touts itself as the “Diet Pill of the Century” and that’s how they got their svelte figures. Frankly, these are gimmicks playing on your fears and anxiety.
The celebrities or models you see already have great figures before they shoot the advertisements. Everyone wants a wonder pill that helps them to lose weight instantly without any effort. That is why people would not hesitate to try these diet pills and supplements. Unfortunately, most don’t work.
2. Be Focused in Your Weight Loss Goal
Quick weight loss can be achieved if you can stick with your exercise regime and dietary plans. It may take some time but it will happen. Stay focused on your goal, and keep reminding yourself on the motivating factors of your weight loss when you are starting to feel disappointed.
It is important to share your goal with close friends and family members or even join a support group. Their constant encouragement would spur you on to fulfill your weight loss dream. No man is an island. Remember to put this quick weight loss tip into practice.
3. Have Fun in Your Weight Loss Exercises
Many folks fail to realize that weight loss can be an enjoyable experience. It requires deliberate but simple effort to inject fun. People have shared that they hated weight loss because they have to sacrifice their time with their TVs, their computer games, and give up on their favorite foods, and so on.
Weight loss seems to have a negative connotation. If you are burning your calories, why not engage in games that you love? Like playing a game of tennis, or take a plunge in the pool and have a relaxing swim?
For people who don’t like physical sports, they can go for brisk walking. Take a nice stroll with your loved ones. You wouldn’t even realize that you are exercising.I hope these preparatory quick weight loss tips are beneficial to you.
Find out what are the 10 easy weight loss tips that you can follow straightaway to lose weight fast in my blog. This article may be freely reprinted or distributed in its entirety in any ezine, newsletter, blog or website.
The author's name, bio and website links must remain intact and be included with every reproduction.
Davion is a successful webmaster and author. Find out how you can lose extra pounds, regain good health and confidence using natural and quick weight loss tips at his blog www.quick-weightloss-tips.blogspot.com
.
Quick weight loss is not impossible but if you are thinking that it happens instantly without any effort on your part, you are seriously misled or living in delusion.
If you are willing to observe and stick with a proper plan, together with steps and quick weight loss tips I will reveal in this article, you will find yourself ready for some fast weight loss. Are you ready to lose weight starting from today?
Weight loss and diet programs come and go. Some are just the fad of today, and people chase after them without fully understanding if they would work for them. Of course, there are some long-standing ones which do work such as the Atkins and Cambridge Diets.
However, over-relying on a special diet program is not for everyone due to our different genetic make-up. There could be adverse side-effects that could surface and result in long-term health problems.Weight loss is a lifestyle than a physical act.
Let’s take a closer look at why most people fail in their weight loss attempts. Survey results showed that the majority failed due to the lack of proper preparation. To be more specific, their will and motivation to lose weight are not strong enough and they give up easily each time a weight loss program does not work for them.
Many others give in fast to temptations of personal indulgence like food, snacks and the like. Still there are some who simple find it too tough to work out physically. Unless you take your weight loss seriously, there is a high chance that you will throw in the towel after a while.
Assuming you are serious about losing weight, you then qualify as a good candidate to apply those quick weight loss tips shared here. Losing weight successfully requires your mindset to be fixated on your quick weight loss plan and goal, no matter which route you have chosen.
Plans do work but only if we work on them. Ask yourself what are the reasons for you wanting to lose weight. Make sure they are motivating enough. Think of the worst case scenario should you fail; the ugly stares at your fat tummy, not feeling confident when approaching the girl/guy you wish to date?
The purpose of this whole exercise is to condition your thinking. Ok, once you have found the strong reasons to lose weight, you are one step ahead of many others.
Now, we will look at 3 practical quick weight loss tips:
1. Be Prepared to Put in Effort
Your fat does not melt while you are sleeping or dreaming about it. You need to do something about it. We live in a world where everything seems to be ideal in the media. The movies we watch feature only beautiful ladies with excellent figures, handsome looking men with nice abs, and so on.
TV commercials flash nice advertisements with a famous celebrity endorsing some slimming pills that touts itself as the “Diet Pill of the Century” and that’s how they got their svelte figures. Frankly, these are gimmicks playing on your fears and anxiety.
The celebrities or models you see already have great figures before they shoot the advertisements. Everyone wants a wonder pill that helps them to lose weight instantly without any effort. That is why people would not hesitate to try these diet pills and supplements. Unfortunately, most don’t work.
2. Be Focused in Your Weight Loss Goal
Quick weight loss can be achieved if you can stick with your exercise regime and dietary plans. It may take some time but it will happen. Stay focused on your goal, and keep reminding yourself on the motivating factors of your weight loss when you are starting to feel disappointed.
It is important to share your goal with close friends and family members or even join a support group. Their constant encouragement would spur you on to fulfill your weight loss dream. No man is an island. Remember to put this quick weight loss tip into practice.
3. Have Fun in Your Weight Loss Exercises
Many folks fail to realize that weight loss can be an enjoyable experience. It requires deliberate but simple effort to inject fun. People have shared that they hated weight loss because they have to sacrifice their time with their TVs, their computer games, and give up on their favorite foods, and so on.
Weight loss seems to have a negative connotation. If you are burning your calories, why not engage in games that you love? Like playing a game of tennis, or take a plunge in the pool and have a relaxing swim?
For people who don’t like physical sports, they can go for brisk walking. Take a nice stroll with your loved ones. You wouldn’t even realize that you are exercising.I hope these preparatory quick weight loss tips are beneficial to you.
Find out what are the 10 easy weight loss tips that you can follow straightaway to lose weight fast in my blog. This article may be freely reprinted or distributed in its entirety in any ezine, newsletter, blog or website.
The author's name, bio and website links must remain intact and be included with every reproduction.
Davion is a successful webmaster and author. Find out how you can lose extra pounds, regain good health and confidence using natural and quick weight loss tips at his blog www.quick-weightloss-tips.blogspot.com
.
Six Key Principles of Saving for Retirement
by Ben Stein
Occasionally, some deep thinkers come along with advice so excellent and points of reference so basic that I feel compelled to pass them on.
Naturally, I wouldn't pass them on if I didn't also agree with them. I think they form a solid basis for your progress on getting that house next to the 16th green for your retirement (if that's what you want).
Miles to Go
The first set of principles come from my old pal and colleague, financial planning whiz Raymond J. Lucia (or Ray Lucia, as I call him). He's written a fine new book called "Ready...Set...Retire!: Financial Strategies for the Rest of Your Life" in which he lays out the six most fundamental considerations for retiring.
Before he even gets to those, though, he insists that you consider how long you're likely to live. Of course, none of us knows the date we'll die, but you can assume that if you make it to 65, you have a darned good shot of making it to 83. And if you're a couple who makes it to 65, there's close to a 40 percent chance you'll make it to 90.
The web site for Northwestern Mutual, a large life insurance company, can help you estimate your longevity. But the main point to bear in mind is that you're probably going to live about 20 years after you retire. That's a long, long time if you don't have enough money saved up.
The Six Principles
With that in mind, Ray presents the bedrock principles that will influence how you live financially after you retire. Specifically, they are:
1. How much you save.
Simply put, if you're a typical American (who happens to save close to zero right now), you have to save more. When you're young, 10 percent of your income will get you there. If you don't start saving until middle age, aim closer to 15 or 20 percent. If you don't start until later than middle age, save every penny you can.
2. How long you give your savings to compound.
The great Milton Friedman famously said that the greatest invention of man was compound interest. Maybe he was joking, maybe not.
In any event, compound interest is a great gift to young people. If you start early, tiny amounts grow to immense amounts, and pretty soon you're all set for retirement. My pal, the genius investment advisor Phil DeMuth, says that if you're old enough to start thinking about sex, you're old enough to start saving for retirement.
A thousand dollars socked away when you're 20 and growing at 10 percent per year will be almost $73,000 when you're 65. The same sum saved when you're 50 will grow to $4,200 at age 65. That's a stunning truth that should compel any young person to start saving early -- and the rest of us to start right now.
As for timing your retirement, Ray advises that if you can push it back by even five years you'll allow your money to grow and have fewer years to need it.
3. How you allocate your assets.
Typically, for those who start early, stocks are the answer. Over long periods, a diversified basket of common stocks wildly outperforms bonds, cash, and real estate. The differences are breathtaking.
But, as we've seen lately, there's also a lot of volatility in stocks. As you age, you'll want more of your money in bonds and money market accounts. These have lower returns than stocks, but they also have far lower volatility.
Phil DeMuth recommends that, as a basic portfolio, you have half of your savings in the broadest possible common stock index such as the Vanguard Total Stock Market Index (VTSMX) and half in the Vanguard Total Bond Market Index (VBMFX).
To me, that's a bit conservative if you're young. I would have more in stocks and also a good chunk in international markets. (Phil has written a fine book about supercharging your portfolio that will be out in a few months. It's far beyond his basic portfolio in sophistication and returns, so watch for it.)
Ray has a portfolio that he uses in his "Buckets of Money" strategy that uses stocks, bonds, variable annuities bought with a sharp eye on fees, and real estate, and his returns have been excellent.
4. How much your investment returns annually.
Now, this is largely unknown from year to year. But over long periods, stocks return close to 6.5 percent after inflation, and about 10 percent before inflation.
The supernova-genius of investing, the investor's absolutely best pal ever, John Bogle, who founded index investing through Vanguard Funds, says -- and his evidence is powerful indeed -- that you'll do best as a stock investor with index funds that cover the largest possible universe of stocks in the free world.
These tend to be very low-cost in terms of fees and loads (sales charges), and beat almost all actively managed funds in terms of return over long periods. I heartily concur. I would add that it's also helpful to juice up your portfolio with real estate, and to lean toward high-dividend and real estate funds.
5. How low you keep your fees and costs.
This principle is largely about using index funds and no-load mutual funds, which makes perfect sense.
6. How closely you keep an eye on taxes.
Finally, Ray advises maxing out your tax-protected accounts like IRAs and 401(k)s; keeping high-dividend stocks in accounts that are tax-deferred; and, when retiring, carefully considering what bracket you'll be in and drawing out your funds to remain in the lowest possible one.
Remember the Basics
These are basic principles to be sure, but they're vital. The three most important to remember are: 1) Start saving for retirement when you're young; 2) Save as much as you can; and 3) Maximize your returns by using index funds with low costs and high diversification. (Diversification and time are probably the investor's best friends.)
It may sound simple, but it isn't easy. If you're diligent, though, you'll be well on your way to that house on the fairway.
Occasionally, some deep thinkers come along with advice so excellent and points of reference so basic that I feel compelled to pass them on.
Naturally, I wouldn't pass them on if I didn't also agree with them. I think they form a solid basis for your progress on getting that house next to the 16th green for your retirement (if that's what you want).
Miles to Go
The first set of principles come from my old pal and colleague, financial planning whiz Raymond J. Lucia (or Ray Lucia, as I call him). He's written a fine new book called "Ready...Set...Retire!: Financial Strategies for the Rest of Your Life" in which he lays out the six most fundamental considerations for retiring.
Before he even gets to those, though, he insists that you consider how long you're likely to live. Of course, none of us knows the date we'll die, but you can assume that if you make it to 65, you have a darned good shot of making it to 83. And if you're a couple who makes it to 65, there's close to a 40 percent chance you'll make it to 90.
The web site for Northwestern Mutual, a large life insurance company, can help you estimate your longevity. But the main point to bear in mind is that you're probably going to live about 20 years after you retire. That's a long, long time if you don't have enough money saved up.
The Six Principles
With that in mind, Ray presents the bedrock principles that will influence how you live financially after you retire. Specifically, they are:
1. How much you save.
Simply put, if you're a typical American (who happens to save close to zero right now), you have to save more. When you're young, 10 percent of your income will get you there. If you don't start saving until middle age, aim closer to 15 or 20 percent. If you don't start until later than middle age, save every penny you can.
2. How long you give your savings to compound.
The great Milton Friedman famously said that the greatest invention of man was compound interest. Maybe he was joking, maybe not.
In any event, compound interest is a great gift to young people. If you start early, tiny amounts grow to immense amounts, and pretty soon you're all set for retirement. My pal, the genius investment advisor Phil DeMuth, says that if you're old enough to start thinking about sex, you're old enough to start saving for retirement.
A thousand dollars socked away when you're 20 and growing at 10 percent per year will be almost $73,000 when you're 65. The same sum saved when you're 50 will grow to $4,200 at age 65. That's a stunning truth that should compel any young person to start saving early -- and the rest of us to start right now.
As for timing your retirement, Ray advises that if you can push it back by even five years you'll allow your money to grow and have fewer years to need it.
3. How you allocate your assets.
Typically, for those who start early, stocks are the answer. Over long periods, a diversified basket of common stocks wildly outperforms bonds, cash, and real estate. The differences are breathtaking.
But, as we've seen lately, there's also a lot of volatility in stocks. As you age, you'll want more of your money in bonds and money market accounts. These have lower returns than stocks, but they also have far lower volatility.
Phil DeMuth recommends that, as a basic portfolio, you have half of your savings in the broadest possible common stock index such as the Vanguard Total Stock Market Index (VTSMX) and half in the Vanguard Total Bond Market Index (VBMFX).
To me, that's a bit conservative if you're young. I would have more in stocks and also a good chunk in international markets. (Phil has written a fine book about supercharging your portfolio that will be out in a few months. It's far beyond his basic portfolio in sophistication and returns, so watch for it.)
Ray has a portfolio that he uses in his "Buckets of Money" strategy that uses stocks, bonds, variable annuities bought with a sharp eye on fees, and real estate, and his returns have been excellent.
4. How much your investment returns annually.
Now, this is largely unknown from year to year. But over long periods, stocks return close to 6.5 percent after inflation, and about 10 percent before inflation.
The supernova-genius of investing, the investor's absolutely best pal ever, John Bogle, who founded index investing through Vanguard Funds, says -- and his evidence is powerful indeed -- that you'll do best as a stock investor with index funds that cover the largest possible universe of stocks in the free world.
These tend to be very low-cost in terms of fees and loads (sales charges), and beat almost all actively managed funds in terms of return over long periods. I heartily concur. I would add that it's also helpful to juice up your portfolio with real estate, and to lean toward high-dividend and real estate funds.
5. How low you keep your fees and costs.
This principle is largely about using index funds and no-load mutual funds, which makes perfect sense.
6. How closely you keep an eye on taxes.
Finally, Ray advises maxing out your tax-protected accounts like IRAs and 401(k)s; keeping high-dividend stocks in accounts that are tax-deferred; and, when retiring, carefully considering what bracket you'll be in and drawing out your funds to remain in the lowest possible one.
Remember the Basics
These are basic principles to be sure, but they're vital. The three most important to remember are: 1) Start saving for retirement when you're young; 2) Save as much as you can; and 3) Maximize your returns by using index funds with low costs and high diversification. (Diversification and time are probably the investor's best friends.)
It may sound simple, but it isn't easy. If you're diligent, though, you'll be well on your way to that house on the fairway.
Success Is Attained By Focusing On Your Goals
by Ben Stein
In my never-ending quest to learn more about personal finance, I keep my eyes and ears open for the good, the bad, and the ugly. A few weeks ago, one of my favorite human beings, a handyman in Malibu, was fixing a balky kitchen cabinet door in my house when he told me excitedly about his new car.
"It's a Bentley," he said. "I've always wanted a Bentley. It's about 20 years old and needs some work, so I got it pretty cheap. I got it online at eBay." "Great," I said. "Did you sell your Corvette or your Chrysler Sebring?" "Neither," he said "The Bentley is my third car."
Consumer Debt Peonage
My heart sank. This fellow is a great handyman. He's a great guy in general. But he has no regular income of any size, works freelance, has either no savings or almost no savings, and isn't young.
Buying that car is placing himself into a form of peonage. He's made himself drastically more susceptible to downward mobility by having an extra monthly bill to pay for car costs, and he's deprived himself of money he could have saved. In a word, he's harmed himself.
If the Bentley breaks, as it will, his repair bills will be astronomical. I tried to gently point this out. He answered simply, "I love cars." "Then good luck to you," I said and shrugged.
Lives Well-Lived
On the other side of the spectrum, I dined last night with an old friend from the glorious street of my childhood, Harvey Road in Silver Spring, Md.
Gene Daumit, who was accompanied by his beautiful wife, DeeDee, is a super-smart guy with a Ph.D. from MIT, a major job at a huge chemicals company, a spouse with a great job in real estate, a home and a vacation condo that are both paid for (or mostly paid for), a substantial pension, and impressive savings.
As they told me about their life, especially their wildly successful daughters, I said to them, "Your lives have been perfect examples of prudence." "No," said DeeDee. "We just kept it simple."
This showed staggering wisdom. People who can keep their lives simple are so far ahead of the game it's ridiculous: a steady job or a good business; saving money regularly starting at an early age; great self-discipline about health (Gene and DeeDee are thin and fit); instilling the same discipline in your kids -- it all adds up to a life well-lived.
Set Yourself Free
Gene and DeeDee's example weighed on me heavily, because in my own life and in the lives of those around me there's so much complexity: too many cars, too many houses (my main curse), too much of an image to have to show off, too much keeping up with the Joneses.
All of this keeps you stuck behind the eight ball for too much of your life, working and slaving to support a lifestyle that starts out as a pleasure and becomes a burden. How do you get back on track? Call a family meeting or just sit down with your financial advisor.
Make a list of your monthly obligations. How many of them do you really need? How many of them are freeing you and how many are enslaving you? Generally speaking, with the exception of a home and a vacation house, if it's eating money and not paying out, you have to question if you really need it.
Do you need that time share? Do you need those three cars? Do you need a $20,000 TV? (If you do, please tell me what's on that makes it worth paying that kind of money for.) Illiquid assets that you rarely use enslave you unless you have so much money that their cost is incidental.
The Liquid Life
On the other hand, liquid assets equal freedom, as my old dad used to say. Liquid assets that pay good dividends and have capital gain potential, such as index funds weighted toward companies that are financially strong, are especially lovely.
The XLU, the REIT, and the ICF are all lovely as well. Any form of broad index fund that tracks the larger markets at home or worldwide is a darned good thing -- and for most of us, far better than a third car.
The fact is that life is deeply uncertain. We often need money when we least expect it, and at that point a third car is useless. A third car doesn't compound unless it's a rare antique. (I sure hope my handyman has such a car.)
Money in a broadly based mutual funds or a low-cost variable annuity does compound. Life goes by pretty quick, and as my old student Ferris Bueller said, "If you don't slow down, you might miss it." And slowing down takes money.
The Luxury of Financial Security
The Daumits have it right, and far too many of us have it wrong.
So keep it simple, my friends -- the burl-wood dashboard and plush leather seats of a Bentley may feel great, but opening up your mutual fund statement and seeing how much you have to cushion you and your family against life's uncertainties feels even better. Besides, peace of mind gets you down the road farther and in greater comfort.
Start now. Get those unnecessary monthly costs out of your life and replace them with monthly savings in broadly based funds. I promise you'll be grateful. And if you still want a Bentley, you can always go to the hobby shop and buy a model of one.
In my never-ending quest to learn more about personal finance, I keep my eyes and ears open for the good, the bad, and the ugly. A few weeks ago, one of my favorite human beings, a handyman in Malibu, was fixing a balky kitchen cabinet door in my house when he told me excitedly about his new car.
"It's a Bentley," he said. "I've always wanted a Bentley. It's about 20 years old and needs some work, so I got it pretty cheap. I got it online at eBay." "Great," I said. "Did you sell your Corvette or your Chrysler Sebring?" "Neither," he said "The Bentley is my third car."
Consumer Debt Peonage
My heart sank. This fellow is a great handyman. He's a great guy in general. But he has no regular income of any size, works freelance, has either no savings or almost no savings, and isn't young.
Buying that car is placing himself into a form of peonage. He's made himself drastically more susceptible to downward mobility by having an extra monthly bill to pay for car costs, and he's deprived himself of money he could have saved. In a word, he's harmed himself.
If the Bentley breaks, as it will, his repair bills will be astronomical. I tried to gently point this out. He answered simply, "I love cars." "Then good luck to you," I said and shrugged.
Lives Well-Lived
On the other side of the spectrum, I dined last night with an old friend from the glorious street of my childhood, Harvey Road in Silver Spring, Md.
Gene Daumit, who was accompanied by his beautiful wife, DeeDee, is a super-smart guy with a Ph.D. from MIT, a major job at a huge chemicals company, a spouse with a great job in real estate, a home and a vacation condo that are both paid for (or mostly paid for), a substantial pension, and impressive savings.
As they told me about their life, especially their wildly successful daughters, I said to them, "Your lives have been perfect examples of prudence." "No," said DeeDee. "We just kept it simple."
This showed staggering wisdom. People who can keep their lives simple are so far ahead of the game it's ridiculous: a steady job or a good business; saving money regularly starting at an early age; great self-discipline about health (Gene and DeeDee are thin and fit); instilling the same discipline in your kids -- it all adds up to a life well-lived.
Set Yourself Free
Gene and DeeDee's example weighed on me heavily, because in my own life and in the lives of those around me there's so much complexity: too many cars, too many houses (my main curse), too much of an image to have to show off, too much keeping up with the Joneses.
All of this keeps you stuck behind the eight ball for too much of your life, working and slaving to support a lifestyle that starts out as a pleasure and becomes a burden. How do you get back on track? Call a family meeting or just sit down with your financial advisor.
Make a list of your monthly obligations. How many of them do you really need? How many of them are freeing you and how many are enslaving you? Generally speaking, with the exception of a home and a vacation house, if it's eating money and not paying out, you have to question if you really need it.
Do you need that time share? Do you need those three cars? Do you need a $20,000 TV? (If you do, please tell me what's on that makes it worth paying that kind of money for.) Illiquid assets that you rarely use enslave you unless you have so much money that their cost is incidental.
The Liquid Life
On the other hand, liquid assets equal freedom, as my old dad used to say. Liquid assets that pay good dividends and have capital gain potential, such as index funds weighted toward companies that are financially strong, are especially lovely.
The XLU, the REIT, and the ICF are all lovely as well. Any form of broad index fund that tracks the larger markets at home or worldwide is a darned good thing -- and for most of us, far better than a third car.
The fact is that life is deeply uncertain. We often need money when we least expect it, and at that point a third car is useless. A third car doesn't compound unless it's a rare antique. (I sure hope my handyman has such a car.)
Money in a broadly based mutual funds or a low-cost variable annuity does compound. Life goes by pretty quick, and as my old student Ferris Bueller said, "If you don't slow down, you might miss it." And slowing down takes money.
The Luxury of Financial Security
The Daumits have it right, and far too many of us have it wrong.
So keep it simple, my friends -- the burl-wood dashboard and plush leather seats of a Bentley may feel great, but opening up your mutual fund statement and seeing how much you have to cushion you and your family against life's uncertainties feels even better. Besides, peace of mind gets you down the road farther and in greater comfort.
Start now. Get those unnecessary monthly costs out of your life and replace them with monthly savings in broadly based funds. I promise you'll be grateful. And if you still want a Bentley, you can always go to the hobby shop and buy a model of one.
Success Is Attained By Focusing On Your Goals - Simple Guidelines Revealed Here
By Greg Nicholls
Star light, star bright, first star I see tonight, which I may, wish I might, have the wish I wish tonight. It seemed reasonable as a child that if I simply looked upon the twilight sky and sought out the first star of the evening and made my wish, that I would receive it.
As an adult after having wished and wished and wished, I came to realize that wishes alone do not come true. That being said, I have learned that you do get what you focus on. Now understand that this can be a good thing and this can be a bad thing.
If you focus on what you want, things like; riches, happiness, wealth, sports cars, time, whatever, then you will have a much greater opportunity to attain and bring that into your life.
Conversely, the same rule applies to what you don’t want; debt, bills, and lack of money, lack of time, lack, lack, lack… guess what, you'll get more lack in your life.
The way to get what you want is to set some good goals. These goals have to have relevance and importance to you and if you focus on them regularly and with sincere desire and you are doing the activities required to attain them then you will certainly attract them into your life.
The guideline to setting effective goals is very simple it is easily laid out with the acronym S.M.A.R.T. The acronym stands for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Timely. I have written of this in a previous article that I wrote and you are welcome to search it out or request it from me.
What this article will assist you in is the focus to attain them. Focus is a word that seems quite simple and easy to understand. While focus has many meanings, focus on your goals simply means to think about what you want with energy and enthusiasm and simply not thinking about what you don’t want.
This focus will lead to the law of attraction; just like the law of gravity, the law of attraction is constant and real. Whether you like it or not you are attracting into your life every single thing that you have thought about with feeling.
For example; late at night, or on the weekend when you are going through your bills and realizing that once again you do not have enough money to pay them all and pay them in full, there is an emotional vibration that you put out and that is in fact activating the law of attraction.
In essence, what you’re doing is bringing more of ultimately what you don’t want into your life.
This is exactly why focusing on what you do want is so important. If you make the decision to focus your energy and your thoughts on what you do want you will attain your goals!
A positive thought is 100 times stronger than a negative thought. So while in the short term you will need to focus on and pay your bills, for the long-term you’ll continue to focus on your goals with feeling and expectation of succeeding at and attaining them.
Once your goal, of say having more money in your life is attained, then guess what, what you don’t what has been eliminated from your life and more of what you do want is in it.
So develop some S.M.A.R.T. goals and focus on them to develop the feeling of having already attained them in your life. Your future will become exactly what you focus on, so focus wisely, the choice is always yours to make.
Star light, star bright, first star I see tonight, which I may, wish I might, have the wish I wish tonight. It seemed reasonable as a child that if I simply looked upon the twilight sky and sought out the first star of the evening and made my wish, that I would receive it.
As an adult after having wished and wished and wished, I came to realize that wishes alone do not come true. That being said, I have learned that you do get what you focus on. Now understand that this can be a good thing and this can be a bad thing.
If you focus on what you want, things like; riches, happiness, wealth, sports cars, time, whatever, then you will have a much greater opportunity to attain and bring that into your life.
Conversely, the same rule applies to what you don’t want; debt, bills, and lack of money, lack of time, lack, lack, lack… guess what, you'll get more lack in your life.
The way to get what you want is to set some good goals. These goals have to have relevance and importance to you and if you focus on them regularly and with sincere desire and you are doing the activities required to attain them then you will certainly attract them into your life.
The guideline to setting effective goals is very simple it is easily laid out with the acronym S.M.A.R.T. The acronym stands for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Timely. I have written of this in a previous article that I wrote and you are welcome to search it out or request it from me.
What this article will assist you in is the focus to attain them. Focus is a word that seems quite simple and easy to understand. While focus has many meanings, focus on your goals simply means to think about what you want with energy and enthusiasm and simply not thinking about what you don’t want.
This focus will lead to the law of attraction; just like the law of gravity, the law of attraction is constant and real. Whether you like it or not you are attracting into your life every single thing that you have thought about with feeling.
For example; late at night, or on the weekend when you are going through your bills and realizing that once again you do not have enough money to pay them all and pay them in full, there is an emotional vibration that you put out and that is in fact activating the law of attraction.
In essence, what you’re doing is bringing more of ultimately what you don’t want into your life.
This is exactly why focusing on what you do want is so important. If you make the decision to focus your energy and your thoughts on what you do want you will attain your goals!
A positive thought is 100 times stronger than a negative thought. So while in the short term you will need to focus on and pay your bills, for the long-term you’ll continue to focus on your goals with feeling and expectation of succeeding at and attaining them.
Once your goal, of say having more money in your life is attained, then guess what, what you don’t what has been eliminated from your life and more of what you do want is in it.
So develop some S.M.A.R.T. goals and focus on them to develop the feeling of having already attained them in your life. Your future will become exactly what you focus on, so focus wisely, the choice is always yours to make.
Twelve Ways To Improve Your Self-Image (Part 2 of 2)
From LifeSkill Institute, Inc
7. Unmask.
A mask is a personality trait that you create and project to the world. Its purpose is to hide the real you. Masks are symbols of insecurity and self-doubt. They are often the result of someone else’s expectations for you. When you wear a mask to create a facade to please someone else, it is generally at the expense of suppressing the real you.
Remove the mask of someone else’s expectations and stop deceiving yourself. As long as the mask remains, you cannot get to the underlying circumstances that caused you to create it. Neither can you get to that part of yourself that you need to change to improve your self-image.
The moment you remove the mask, you feel as though a great weight has been lifted. For the first time in a long time, you can see the person behind the mask and begin the Work of discovering the real you.
8. Have compassion.
You must be sensitive to the needs of others and be willing to give assistance. As you progress along your success journey, you can acquire a greater sensitivity and a greater responsibility to the plight and condition of others. This human sensitivity puts you in harmony with your Creator, and elevates the quality of your own being.
According to Genesis 1:28, we have dominion over every living thing on the earth. This godlike dominion implies that it is our duty to be sensitive to and respond to the needs of others. This does not just apply to human beings, but to all things which live upon the earth.
So, you must have compassion for, and be sensitive to the plight and needs of all living things—people, animals, plants, and the environment.
9. Grow from your mistakes.
No one has ever succeeded without making mistakes. If you are making mistakes, at least you know that you are trying. Mistakes are life-lessons in wisdom. Often, you learn more from your mistakes and failures than from your successes.
You determine what works in a particular situation by learning what does not work and then trying again. One who has never made a mistake has probably never made a discovery.
Let your mistakes, through intelligent analysis and corrective actions, become markers showing the way on on your journey to improve your life.
Nothing beats failure like success.
10. Acknowledge your weaknesses
Any weakness or personal shortcoming that is not acknowledged cannot be overcome. Refusing to acknowledge your weaknesses causes rationalization and deception, and therefore perpetuates that very condition.
11. Be Yourself.
People who pretend to be someone or something other than themselves never discover who they really are. When you try to be someone else, you become separated from your true self.
As long as you are separated from your true self, your energies are diluted and your personal magnetism is greatly diminished. When you are true to yourself, you are in harmony with yourself, with other people, and with the world around you.
12. Never stop growing.
Life is a constant orchestration of growth
through adversity and challenge.
The moment you reject the growth principle of life, you accept the static principle of death. The only way to attain the good health, wealth, happiness, and prosperity you seek and deserve is to grow into these qualities and attributes. To maintain them, you must continue to grow in knowledge, understanding, and consciousness.
Improving and developing your self-image into a positive, most effective tool, is the best first step you can take on building the new you. It is upon your newly developed self-image that the foundation for the mansion of your dreams is built.
If this foundation is based on doubt, fear, and negativity, your mansion cannot stand. But, if it is built on truth, courage, compassion, self-confidence, and faith, your mansion stands on solid ground, and it will stand forever.
______________________________________________________________________________
© 2007 LifeSkill Institute, Inc. Based on The Twelve Universal Laws of Success, Second Edition, Expanded, ISBN 0-9748362-1-4 a new book by Herbert Harris, available at Amazon.com or through the LifeSkill Institute, Inc.
Call (800) 570-4009 to order books. Visit our website www.lifeskillinstitute.org for weekly success message and download Twelve Affirmations To Live By Poster. E-mail: lifeskill@earthlink.net
7. Unmask.
A mask is a personality trait that you create and project to the world. Its purpose is to hide the real you. Masks are symbols of insecurity and self-doubt. They are often the result of someone else’s expectations for you. When you wear a mask to create a facade to please someone else, it is generally at the expense of suppressing the real you.
Remove the mask of someone else’s expectations and stop deceiving yourself. As long as the mask remains, you cannot get to the underlying circumstances that caused you to create it. Neither can you get to that part of yourself that you need to change to improve your self-image.
The moment you remove the mask, you feel as though a great weight has been lifted. For the first time in a long time, you can see the person behind the mask and begin the Work of discovering the real you.
8. Have compassion.
You must be sensitive to the needs of others and be willing to give assistance. As you progress along your success journey, you can acquire a greater sensitivity and a greater responsibility to the plight and condition of others. This human sensitivity puts you in harmony with your Creator, and elevates the quality of your own being.
According to Genesis 1:28, we have dominion over every living thing on the earth. This godlike dominion implies that it is our duty to be sensitive to and respond to the needs of others. This does not just apply to human beings, but to all things which live upon the earth.
So, you must have compassion for, and be sensitive to the plight and needs of all living things—people, animals, plants, and the environment.
9. Grow from your mistakes.
No one has ever succeeded without making mistakes. If you are making mistakes, at least you know that you are trying. Mistakes are life-lessons in wisdom. Often, you learn more from your mistakes and failures than from your successes.
You determine what works in a particular situation by learning what does not work and then trying again. One who has never made a mistake has probably never made a discovery.
Let your mistakes, through intelligent analysis and corrective actions, become markers showing the way on on your journey to improve your life.
Nothing beats failure like success.
10. Acknowledge your weaknesses
Any weakness or personal shortcoming that is not acknowledged cannot be overcome. Refusing to acknowledge your weaknesses causes rationalization and deception, and therefore perpetuates that very condition.
11. Be Yourself.
People who pretend to be someone or something other than themselves never discover who they really are. When you try to be someone else, you become separated from your true self.
As long as you are separated from your true self, your energies are diluted and your personal magnetism is greatly diminished. When you are true to yourself, you are in harmony with yourself, with other people, and with the world around you.
12. Never stop growing.
Life is a constant orchestration of growth
through adversity and challenge.
The moment you reject the growth principle of life, you accept the static principle of death. The only way to attain the good health, wealth, happiness, and prosperity you seek and deserve is to grow into these qualities and attributes. To maintain them, you must continue to grow in knowledge, understanding, and consciousness.
Improving and developing your self-image into a positive, most effective tool, is the best first step you can take on building the new you. It is upon your newly developed self-image that the foundation for the mansion of your dreams is built.
If this foundation is based on doubt, fear, and negativity, your mansion cannot stand. But, if it is built on truth, courage, compassion, self-confidence, and faith, your mansion stands on solid ground, and it will stand forever.
______________________________________________________________________________
© 2007 LifeSkill Institute, Inc. Based on The Twelve Universal Laws of Success, Second Edition, Expanded, ISBN 0-9748362-1-4 a new book by Herbert Harris, available at Amazon.com or through the LifeSkill Institute, Inc.
Call (800) 570-4009 to order books. Visit our website www.lifeskillinstitute.org for weekly success message and download Twelve Affirmations To Live By Poster. E-mail: lifeskill@earthlink.net
La Resistance: Americans missing out on the charms of Chablis because they still confuse it with the California fake.
By Bill Daley
Chablis can trigger an involuntary shudder in those of us who are a certain age. That's because we nearly drowned 30 years ago in a flood of cheap California "chablis" made with everything but.
It was a wine so unpleasant many of us have shied away from Chablis, the noble white wine made in France's Burgundy region. Complicating matters more, Chablis is made from the chardonnay grape, a varietal whose blowzy, butterball persona (again, blame California) has triggered a backlash with consumers demanding ABC -- "Anything But Chardonnay.
"It's important to realize one thing: French Chablis is nothing like California "chablis" or, in many cases, California chardonnay. The wine has a commendable austerity, a crispness and a signature minerality.
Even the higher-quality Chablis, sometimes aged for a time in oak, still don't seem to have the over-the-top quality so many oaked chardonnays can have.Chablis comes from northern Burgundy, from the land around the town of Chablis. There are four quality-based appellations.
In ascending order of quality, and often price, they are: Petit Chablis, Chablis, Chablis Premier Cru and Chablis Grand Cru. "Regular" Chablis makes up much of the production, according to "The New Wine Lover's Companion." There are 40 vineyards with premier cru status and seven grand cru vineyards.
You can spot that prime acreage easily on the map; the grand crus are located on slopes facing southwest. Geographical orientation is important because the often cool climate can affect the ripening of the grapes. The distinctive minerality is due to chalky limestone soils.
Chablis can be among the world's best white wines, so why have so many people forgotten Chablis' appeal? Even Nora Horan, a publicist for Joseph Drouhin, the French vintner, conceded that the American consumer has forgotten the "meaning of Chablis.
" But she insisted that the white can "once again have a place on the tables and in the hearts" of consumers.Frankly, Chablis still has a way to go. Alixe Lischett, owner of Glen Ellyn's Cabernet & Co., loves Chablis and she recommends them to customers who like other white Burgundies.
Yet, she has been turned down by some, especially those looking to buy a bottle for a gift. They aren't certain the gift-getter will realize that Chablis is a good wine, she reported. Howard Silverman of Howard's Wine Cellar said that those novice drinkers used to drinking American whites might not like Chablis, particularly the basic wine, because of its austerity.
"It's lighter, there's less alcohol, no residual sugar and no oak," he said. "That can be difficult for someone coming off of Kendall-Jackson. "Silverman said that people new to Chablis might want to consider ordering a bottle at a restaurant and letting the server suggest the perfect food match.
Lischett also recommended pairing food to the Chablis because the wine's chalkiness offsets the cream or butter in food. "Chablis will complement the dish while a big chardonnay would compete with it," she said. Lischett uses Chablis' mineral quality to help sell the wine. This note piques interest in many customers, even those who say they don't like chardonnay.
Variations from vintage to vintage due to climate -- 2003 was a record hot year -- also is a plus for her."It's another story for us to tell and stories sell wine," she said.Still, Silverman bemoaned how many drinkers handle Chablis."People drink them too cold, they drink them too young," he complained.
"Chablis needs proper aging, it could take seven to 10 years in a good vintage."For him, the wait and the money are worth it."You are paying the money for special grapes grown in special soil," he said. "The character of those grapes doesn't reveal itself for 10 years or so."
Variations on a theme
The Good Eating tasting panel sampled Chablis in three quality levels in an informal blind tasting. Three wines by Joseph Drouhin were among them so panelists could discover the various approaches one maker brings to chardonnay. All but one of the wines was from 2004.
The exception, a 2003 Joseph Drouhin Chablis Grand Cru Les Clos, was more robust than the classically austere 2004s, underscoring the role vintage can play, especially in France where the climate can differ dramatically year to year. The summer of 2003 was unusually hot, resulting in bigger, fruitier wines, while the cooler 2004 season produced wines in the more austere style.
Chablis
2004 Julien Brocard Domaine de la Boissonneuse
Clean, crisp minerality, lively acidity and refreshing grapefruit flavor. Serve with sole. $18
2004 Joseph Drouhin
Lemony nose translates into a crisp lemon flavor with a definite sweet-tart finish. Serve with grilled shrimp, oysters. $20
Chablis Premier Cru
2004 Joseph Drouhin
More body than the regular Chablis but still a clean profile. Good acidity, pineapple notes. Serve with baked ham, sauteed fish. $29
2004 Jean-Marc Brocard Collection Mineral
Well-balanced, buttery, with a subtle burst of fruit on the finish. The nose is a bit mushroomy. Serve with seared scallops, chicken in veloute sauce. $19
Chablis Grand Cru
2004 William Fevre Les Clos
A complex wine, with sweet pineapple notes balanced by touches of tart citrus. Crisp, well-balanced. Serve with crab souffle, fettuccine in a lemon -ream sauce. $70
2003 Joseph Drouhin Les Clos
Aromatic, rounded, with plenty of tingly clove flavor spiking up the buttery, almost Burgundian richness of the wine. Serve with chicken-mushroom roulade, lobster. $84
Sources: These wines may or may not be in stock at your local store; inquire first. At least one of these wines was found at these stores: Binny's Beverage Depot stores, Howard's Wine Cellar, Sal's Beverage World stores, Whole Foods Market, Dobby's World-Wide Liquors in Palatine, Cabernet & Company in Glen Ellyn and WineStyles in Woodridge. Prices may vary from store to store. Prices are rounded off.
Chablis can trigger an involuntary shudder in those of us who are a certain age. That's because we nearly drowned 30 years ago in a flood of cheap California "chablis" made with everything but.
It was a wine so unpleasant many of us have shied away from Chablis, the noble white wine made in France's Burgundy region. Complicating matters more, Chablis is made from the chardonnay grape, a varietal whose blowzy, butterball persona (again, blame California) has triggered a backlash with consumers demanding ABC -- "Anything But Chardonnay.
"It's important to realize one thing: French Chablis is nothing like California "chablis" or, in many cases, California chardonnay. The wine has a commendable austerity, a crispness and a signature minerality.
Even the higher-quality Chablis, sometimes aged for a time in oak, still don't seem to have the over-the-top quality so many oaked chardonnays can have.Chablis comes from northern Burgundy, from the land around the town of Chablis. There are four quality-based appellations.
In ascending order of quality, and often price, they are: Petit Chablis, Chablis, Chablis Premier Cru and Chablis Grand Cru. "Regular" Chablis makes up much of the production, according to "The New Wine Lover's Companion." There are 40 vineyards with premier cru status and seven grand cru vineyards.
You can spot that prime acreage easily on the map; the grand crus are located on slopes facing southwest. Geographical orientation is important because the often cool climate can affect the ripening of the grapes. The distinctive minerality is due to chalky limestone soils.
Chablis can be among the world's best white wines, so why have so many people forgotten Chablis' appeal? Even Nora Horan, a publicist for Joseph Drouhin, the French vintner, conceded that the American consumer has forgotten the "meaning of Chablis.
" But she insisted that the white can "once again have a place on the tables and in the hearts" of consumers.Frankly, Chablis still has a way to go. Alixe Lischett, owner of Glen Ellyn's Cabernet & Co., loves Chablis and she recommends them to customers who like other white Burgundies.
Yet, she has been turned down by some, especially those looking to buy a bottle for a gift. They aren't certain the gift-getter will realize that Chablis is a good wine, she reported. Howard Silverman of Howard's Wine Cellar said that those novice drinkers used to drinking American whites might not like Chablis, particularly the basic wine, because of its austerity.
"It's lighter, there's less alcohol, no residual sugar and no oak," he said. "That can be difficult for someone coming off of Kendall-Jackson. "Silverman said that people new to Chablis might want to consider ordering a bottle at a restaurant and letting the server suggest the perfect food match.
Lischett also recommended pairing food to the Chablis because the wine's chalkiness offsets the cream or butter in food. "Chablis will complement the dish while a big chardonnay would compete with it," she said. Lischett uses Chablis' mineral quality to help sell the wine. This note piques interest in many customers, even those who say they don't like chardonnay.
Variations from vintage to vintage due to climate -- 2003 was a record hot year -- also is a plus for her."It's another story for us to tell and stories sell wine," she said.Still, Silverman bemoaned how many drinkers handle Chablis."People drink them too cold, they drink them too young," he complained.
"Chablis needs proper aging, it could take seven to 10 years in a good vintage."For him, the wait and the money are worth it."You are paying the money for special grapes grown in special soil," he said. "The character of those grapes doesn't reveal itself for 10 years or so."
Variations on a theme
The Good Eating tasting panel sampled Chablis in three quality levels in an informal blind tasting. Three wines by Joseph Drouhin were among them so panelists could discover the various approaches one maker brings to chardonnay. All but one of the wines was from 2004.
The exception, a 2003 Joseph Drouhin Chablis Grand Cru Les Clos, was more robust than the classically austere 2004s, underscoring the role vintage can play, especially in France where the climate can differ dramatically year to year. The summer of 2003 was unusually hot, resulting in bigger, fruitier wines, while the cooler 2004 season produced wines in the more austere style.
Chablis
2004 Julien Brocard Domaine de la Boissonneuse
Clean, crisp minerality, lively acidity and refreshing grapefruit flavor. Serve with sole. $18
2004 Joseph Drouhin
Lemony nose translates into a crisp lemon flavor with a definite sweet-tart finish. Serve with grilled shrimp, oysters. $20
Chablis Premier Cru
2004 Joseph Drouhin
More body than the regular Chablis but still a clean profile. Good acidity, pineapple notes. Serve with baked ham, sauteed fish. $29
2004 Jean-Marc Brocard Collection Mineral
Well-balanced, buttery, with a subtle burst of fruit on the finish. The nose is a bit mushroomy. Serve with seared scallops, chicken in veloute sauce. $19
Chablis Grand Cru
2004 William Fevre Les Clos
A complex wine, with sweet pineapple notes balanced by touches of tart citrus. Crisp, well-balanced. Serve with crab souffle, fettuccine in a lemon -ream sauce. $70
2003 Joseph Drouhin Les Clos
Aromatic, rounded, with plenty of tingly clove flavor spiking up the buttery, almost Burgundian richness of the wine. Serve with chicken-mushroom roulade, lobster. $84
Sources: These wines may or may not be in stock at your local store; inquire first. At least one of these wines was found at these stores: Binny's Beverage Depot stores, Howard's Wine Cellar, Sal's Beverage World stores, Whole Foods Market, Dobby's World-Wide Liquors in Palatine, Cabernet & Company in Glen Ellyn and WineStyles in Woodridge. Prices may vary from store to store. Prices are rounded off.
Forget vintage Port. For dessert wines, Italy's the place to be.
Seeking after-dinner adventure? Enter the world of evocative dessert wines produced in regions from Piedmont to Sicily.
By Leslie Brenner
Let's face it: It's hard to get very excited over Italian desserts. Torta della nonna? Zabaglione? Sure they're good. But exciting they're not.When it comes to Italian post-prandial thrills, wine and spirits is where the action is.
Grappa rocks, if you're up to it, and there's nothing like a cold drop of limoncello on a summer evening. But there's also a big, sweet, serious, complex world to discover in Italian dessert wines.
Moscato d'Asti, Italy's best-known example, sweet and lightly fizzy, has never quite done it for me -- it's pretty, sure, but too light and fluttery to stand in for dessert. For me, the ideal after-dinner wine is sweet but not too, with enough complexity to intrigue.
Its aromas must beguile, and its finish should last long enough to keep me thinking about it. Vin Santo, Tuscany's signature dessert wine made from dried grapes, can be swell, but without biscotti for dipping, it's often a bit dull.
The best plan, if you want to discover the most compelling after-dinner action Italy has to offer, is to venture all around the country. There are amazing finds from the northernmost reaches of Alto Adige, near the Austrian border, to the southern island of Pantelleria, just about 50 miles from Tunisia.
They say that when it comes to cooking, Italy is not one country but a collection of cuisines, and that's just as true for these wines. They're intriguing, unusual, attractive -- though not in the conventional sense -- often complex, sometimes challenging, sometimes even funky and always interesting.Take Moscato Rosa, for instance.
This pale red (or even pink), sweet wine, made in Alto Adige and Friuli from grapes that are a red sub-variety of Moscato, has lately become trendy in Friuli, according to Joseph Bastianich, author (with David Lynch) of "Vino Italiano: The Regional Wines of Italy."
"It's a northeast phenomenon," he says. "Pink is in on all fronts."They're worth seeking out, as they can be light and pretty, yet seriously intriguing, with unusual herbal and fruit aromas and unexpected depth.
Look for bottles from producers Franz Haas, Zeni and Abbazia di Novacella.Just to the south, Recioto della Valpolicella, the sweet cousin of dry Amarone, is the Veneto's answer to Port.
Known for their intensity and complexity, these reciotos are made according to an ancient method from grapes that are dried for four months, or even longer, on bamboo canes up in the lofts of wineries.
"These sweet wines are an accidental coincidence," Bastianich explains. When the farmers went out to pick the white grapes, he says, if the reds were ready too, they'd pick them and put the reds up in the attic while they vinified the whites. "So it was really born out of necessity," he says.
Piedmont's sexy stars
Moving west, to Piedmont, Moscato Passito Loazzolo is like Moscato d'Asti's sexy big sister. Loazzolo is a denominazione di origine controllata (D.O.C.) for sweet wine made from semi-dried Moscato grapes within the Asti D.O.C.G. (denominazione di origine controllata guarantita) just south of the town of Asti.
A 2001 Forteto della Luja is sweet and gorgeous, golden, luscious and honeyed, with a seriously long finish.One of Italy's most fabled dessert wines also comes from Piedmont. Well, not exactly -- but it was vinified there.
In 1959, the story goes, Antonio Ferrari, a Piedmontese winemaker with a thing for wines made from Primitivo grapes, went down to Puglia and bought some fruit from one of that region's best growers.
It just so happened that '59 was the hottest year of the century in that part of the world, and the grapes he bought were super ripe and air-dried.
He made the wine, transported it back to his cellars in Piedmont, in the cool hills of Novara, and though he expected to wind up with a wine with about 21% alcohol, the wine stopped fermenting at 14% alcohol, thanks to the suddenly cooler temperatures.
He aged it for 10 years in wood, then left it in cement casks to continue aging for another 35 years.Three years ago the Ferrari family released it, as Ferrari Solaria Jonica, and the wine is stunningly good -- it has an amazing amount of ripe fruit for a wine of that age, a beautiful, velvety texture, and terrific depth and complexity.
It's very expensive -- $190 for a 500-milliliter bottle -- and there's not much of it around, but it's absolutely unforgettable.Moving south to Umbria, Montefalco Sagrantino is in its infancy as a D.O.C. wine -- the denominazione was created only in 1979; it took a step up to become a D.O.C.G. wine in 1992.
But already it's become a star in the region, and the sweet passito (or dried grape) wines made from the variety can be powerfully interesting.A 2001 Giuliano Ruggeri was the most challenging of the dessert wines I've sampled lately, with serious tannins, curiously dry aromas and a completely dry finish.
It's almost like a big, brawny dry red wine dressed up to go out for dessert -- curious, and compelling in its way.And then there's Zibibbo. What's that? It's what Moscato is called in Sicily, and the dessert wine that's made from it in those parts -- Moscato Passito di Pantelleria -- couldn't be more different than Piedmont's Moscato Passito Loazzolo.
Moscato Passito di Pantelleria comes from a small, sunny, wind-swept island off Sicily's southeast coast; the grape is actually Muscat of Alexandria. (Piedmont's is Moscato Bianco.)
According to Nicolas Belfrage, author of "Brunello to Zibibbo: The Wines of Tuscany, Central and Southern Italy," Pantelleria's Moscato is grown in black volcanic soil, the vines dug into holes to protect them from the sciroccos that whip over from across the Sahara.
Passito di Pantelleria, he writes, "for the intensity and complexity of sheer grape, floral and female-scent aromas that it is capable of releasing, is surely one of the world's great sweet wines.
"Well, I got prunes, black cherries, burnt caramel and rancio aromas from Salvatore Murana's 1999 "Martingana." (Murana is one of Pantelleria's best-known producers.) Deep flavors of dried apricot and hazelnuts, and a silky, sumptuous texture. It was like nothing I had ever tasted.You can keep your vintage Port. Meanwhile, don't bogart that Solaria Jonica.
By Leslie Brenner
Let's face it: It's hard to get very excited over Italian desserts. Torta della nonna? Zabaglione? Sure they're good. But exciting they're not.When it comes to Italian post-prandial thrills, wine and spirits is where the action is.
Grappa rocks, if you're up to it, and there's nothing like a cold drop of limoncello on a summer evening. But there's also a big, sweet, serious, complex world to discover in Italian dessert wines.
Moscato d'Asti, Italy's best-known example, sweet and lightly fizzy, has never quite done it for me -- it's pretty, sure, but too light and fluttery to stand in for dessert. For me, the ideal after-dinner wine is sweet but not too, with enough complexity to intrigue.
Its aromas must beguile, and its finish should last long enough to keep me thinking about it. Vin Santo, Tuscany's signature dessert wine made from dried grapes, can be swell, but without biscotti for dipping, it's often a bit dull.
The best plan, if you want to discover the most compelling after-dinner action Italy has to offer, is to venture all around the country. There are amazing finds from the northernmost reaches of Alto Adige, near the Austrian border, to the southern island of Pantelleria, just about 50 miles from Tunisia.
They say that when it comes to cooking, Italy is not one country but a collection of cuisines, and that's just as true for these wines. They're intriguing, unusual, attractive -- though not in the conventional sense -- often complex, sometimes challenging, sometimes even funky and always interesting.Take Moscato Rosa, for instance.
This pale red (or even pink), sweet wine, made in Alto Adige and Friuli from grapes that are a red sub-variety of Moscato, has lately become trendy in Friuli, according to Joseph Bastianich, author (with David Lynch) of "Vino Italiano: The Regional Wines of Italy."
"It's a northeast phenomenon," he says. "Pink is in on all fronts."They're worth seeking out, as they can be light and pretty, yet seriously intriguing, with unusual herbal and fruit aromas and unexpected depth.
Look for bottles from producers Franz Haas, Zeni and Abbazia di Novacella.Just to the south, Recioto della Valpolicella, the sweet cousin of dry Amarone, is the Veneto's answer to Port.
Known for their intensity and complexity, these reciotos are made according to an ancient method from grapes that are dried for four months, or even longer, on bamboo canes up in the lofts of wineries.
"These sweet wines are an accidental coincidence," Bastianich explains. When the farmers went out to pick the white grapes, he says, if the reds were ready too, they'd pick them and put the reds up in the attic while they vinified the whites. "So it was really born out of necessity," he says.
Piedmont's sexy stars
Moving west, to Piedmont, Moscato Passito Loazzolo is like Moscato d'Asti's sexy big sister. Loazzolo is a denominazione di origine controllata (D.O.C.) for sweet wine made from semi-dried Moscato grapes within the Asti D.O.C.G. (denominazione di origine controllata guarantita) just south of the town of Asti.
A 2001 Forteto della Luja is sweet and gorgeous, golden, luscious and honeyed, with a seriously long finish.One of Italy's most fabled dessert wines also comes from Piedmont. Well, not exactly -- but it was vinified there.
In 1959, the story goes, Antonio Ferrari, a Piedmontese winemaker with a thing for wines made from Primitivo grapes, went down to Puglia and bought some fruit from one of that region's best growers.
It just so happened that '59 was the hottest year of the century in that part of the world, and the grapes he bought were super ripe and air-dried.
He made the wine, transported it back to his cellars in Piedmont, in the cool hills of Novara, and though he expected to wind up with a wine with about 21% alcohol, the wine stopped fermenting at 14% alcohol, thanks to the suddenly cooler temperatures.
He aged it for 10 years in wood, then left it in cement casks to continue aging for another 35 years.Three years ago the Ferrari family released it, as Ferrari Solaria Jonica, and the wine is stunningly good -- it has an amazing amount of ripe fruit for a wine of that age, a beautiful, velvety texture, and terrific depth and complexity.
It's very expensive -- $190 for a 500-milliliter bottle -- and there's not much of it around, but it's absolutely unforgettable.Moving south to Umbria, Montefalco Sagrantino is in its infancy as a D.O.C. wine -- the denominazione was created only in 1979; it took a step up to become a D.O.C.G. wine in 1992.
But already it's become a star in the region, and the sweet passito (or dried grape) wines made from the variety can be powerfully interesting.A 2001 Giuliano Ruggeri was the most challenging of the dessert wines I've sampled lately, with serious tannins, curiously dry aromas and a completely dry finish.
It's almost like a big, brawny dry red wine dressed up to go out for dessert -- curious, and compelling in its way.And then there's Zibibbo. What's that? It's what Moscato is called in Sicily, and the dessert wine that's made from it in those parts -- Moscato Passito di Pantelleria -- couldn't be more different than Piedmont's Moscato Passito Loazzolo.
Moscato Passito di Pantelleria comes from a small, sunny, wind-swept island off Sicily's southeast coast; the grape is actually Muscat of Alexandria. (Piedmont's is Moscato Bianco.)
According to Nicolas Belfrage, author of "Brunello to Zibibbo: The Wines of Tuscany, Central and Southern Italy," Pantelleria's Moscato is grown in black volcanic soil, the vines dug into holes to protect them from the sciroccos that whip over from across the Sahara.
Passito di Pantelleria, he writes, "for the intensity and complexity of sheer grape, floral and female-scent aromas that it is capable of releasing, is surely one of the world's great sweet wines.
"Well, I got prunes, black cherries, burnt caramel and rancio aromas from Salvatore Murana's 1999 "Martingana." (Murana is one of Pantelleria's best-known producers.) Deep flavors of dried apricot and hazelnuts, and a silky, sumptuous texture. It was like nothing I had ever tasted.You can keep your vintage Port. Meanwhile, don't bogart that Solaria Jonica.
Sunday, May 06, 2007
The Best Way To Choose A Residual Income Program
By: Diep Tran
Residual income programs are built on people recruiting people. One person sells their business idea to another who joins and becomes the down line to help earn that person money. Selling is all about appealing to a person’s emotions.
They try to get a person to feel passionate about what they do, so they will buy into it. That is why many people choose a residual income program that is not for them. They were sold based upon their emotions, not rational thinking, which is the best way to choose a residual income program.
The process of selling is showing passion and getting other to feel that passion about what is being sold. One of the goals in a residual income program is to get others to sign up and become part of the team.
As more people sign up the people who signed them up make more money. It is easy to see why people use aggressive tactics to sell the residual income program to others. It is also easy to see why many people end up choosing the program that is not the best for them.
Overcoming the emotions and being able to choose based upon well thought out reason is the way to choose the best residual income program. So, how can a person do that? They need to learn the top things to look for in a good program.
The program needs to have an appealing product. It needs to be something that is interesting and something that people will buy. They should also be unique and something people cannot buy anywhere else.
The company should have a stable history. It should have good growth potential and not have any problems financially or structurally. It should have a good marketing system that is taught to every new person.
It should be easy to use and something that is easy to learn. The payment plan should be easy to understand and make sense. It should be easy for a person to see how they can make a long term profit. Lastly, the company needs to show teamwork is built into it.
Teamwork should be a main part of the company and should be easy for a person to see when they start to learn about the company.The best residual income program is defined by each person. It is perhaps easier to define the worst program.
The guidelines above, though, should explain how to weed out the bad ones and settle in on the ones that have the possibility to be the best. By reading through them and getting to understand them a person should have a good understanding what makes for a good company where they can earn a good income.
Diep Tran is Internet marketer, owns a Plug-In Profits Site and webmaster of Internet Home Business Opportunities. For An Internet Home Business Opportunity To Make Money Online, Visit: http://www.internet-wealth.biz
Residual income programs are built on people recruiting people. One person sells their business idea to another who joins and becomes the down line to help earn that person money. Selling is all about appealing to a person’s emotions.
They try to get a person to feel passionate about what they do, so they will buy into it. That is why many people choose a residual income program that is not for them. They were sold based upon their emotions, not rational thinking, which is the best way to choose a residual income program.
The process of selling is showing passion and getting other to feel that passion about what is being sold. One of the goals in a residual income program is to get others to sign up and become part of the team.
As more people sign up the people who signed them up make more money. It is easy to see why people use aggressive tactics to sell the residual income program to others. It is also easy to see why many people end up choosing the program that is not the best for them.
Overcoming the emotions and being able to choose based upon well thought out reason is the way to choose the best residual income program. So, how can a person do that? They need to learn the top things to look for in a good program.
The program needs to have an appealing product. It needs to be something that is interesting and something that people will buy. They should also be unique and something people cannot buy anywhere else.
The company should have a stable history. It should have good growth potential and not have any problems financially or structurally. It should have a good marketing system that is taught to every new person.
It should be easy to use and something that is easy to learn. The payment plan should be easy to understand and make sense. It should be easy for a person to see how they can make a long term profit. Lastly, the company needs to show teamwork is built into it.
Teamwork should be a main part of the company and should be easy for a person to see when they start to learn about the company.The best residual income program is defined by each person. It is perhaps easier to define the worst program.
The guidelines above, though, should explain how to weed out the bad ones and settle in on the ones that have the possibility to be the best. By reading through them and getting to understand them a person should have a good understanding what makes for a good company where they can earn a good income.
Diep Tran is Internet marketer, owns a Plug-In Profits Site and webmaster of Internet Home Business Opportunities. For An Internet Home Business Opportunity To Make Money Online, Visit: http://www.internet-wealth.biz
What companies can do with a website?
By: Abdul Vasi
Surprisingly, even in this era of technology, many people are unaware of a company's potential benefits of having a website. It does not matter what is the size of a company when it comes to having a website, which can help companies excel universally.
This article will briefly discuss the endless possibilities of a company website. If a company is specialized in producing certain goods, then having a website can be immensely beneficial. Over the past few years, selling stuff over the internet has become extremely popular.
Online shoppers are now interested in virtually everything. They not only buy expensive gadgets through the internet, but also tiny cheap ones if the price is right. One will be astonished to learn that these shoppers are millions in number and will be even more in the next few years.
Even if a Web Hosting India company only sells others' goods over the internet, it can still make huge profit through commissions and service charges. Hence it should be crystal clear by now that a seller company can excel radically with the aid of a website.
Companies can also use their websites to impress potential customers and other parties. A suave website with a brief yet attractive company profile is sure to attract visitors who eventually begin to have a positive attitude towards the particular company.
Using a highly functional website, a company can definitely edge out its competitors in the race of getting attention. Customers will obviously want to contact companies which have a professional looking website complete with every contact details.
Furthermore, a website helps a company to showcase its experience and experienced workforce through a vivid online presentation at a minimum cost. Companies can use website to give feedbacks efficiently and quickly.
While manually giving feedback can be a slow and hectic process, online feedback is said to be very effective yet snappy. Previously, it was seen that customers are unhappy with a lot of companies as they were unable to give feedbacks on time.
Furthermore, the quality of those feedbacks were said to be sub-standard most of the time. However, with the introduction of online feedbacks, complaints diminished significantly. A company can use the forums of a website to give these feedbacks in a nice manner.
Companies can give more attractive advertisements by using a website. It is possible because a potential customer is most likely to notice lucrative offers online rather than offline. Companies can also be benefited financially by having a website.
Small-scale companies can display tiny advertisements of other companies in their webpage to make money. These advertisements are too small to notice, yet they have the capability to draw a lot of money for the website-owner company.
A company can also place vital payment information in their website which will let the visitors know how to pay in case a transaction occurs. Some companies even offer the customers a very easy payment procedure through the website which is getting popular day by day.
Surprisingly, even in this era of technology, many people are unaware of a company's potential benefits of having a website. It does not matter what is the size of a company when it comes to having a website, which can help companies excel universally.
This article will briefly discuss the endless possibilities of a company website. If a company is specialized in producing certain goods, then having a website can be immensely beneficial. Over the past few years, selling stuff over the internet has become extremely popular.
Online shoppers are now interested in virtually everything. They not only buy expensive gadgets through the internet, but also tiny cheap ones if the price is right. One will be astonished to learn that these shoppers are millions in number and will be even more in the next few years.
Even if a Web Hosting India company only sells others' goods over the internet, it can still make huge profit through commissions and service charges. Hence it should be crystal clear by now that a seller company can excel radically with the aid of a website.
Companies can also use their websites to impress potential customers and other parties. A suave website with a brief yet attractive company profile is sure to attract visitors who eventually begin to have a positive attitude towards the particular company.
Using a highly functional website, a company can definitely edge out its competitors in the race of getting attention. Customers will obviously want to contact companies which have a professional looking website complete with every contact details.
Furthermore, a website helps a company to showcase its experience and experienced workforce through a vivid online presentation at a minimum cost. Companies can use website to give feedbacks efficiently and quickly.
While manually giving feedback can be a slow and hectic process, online feedback is said to be very effective yet snappy. Previously, it was seen that customers are unhappy with a lot of companies as they were unable to give feedbacks on time.
Furthermore, the quality of those feedbacks were said to be sub-standard most of the time. However, with the introduction of online feedbacks, complaints diminished significantly. A company can use the forums of a website to give these feedbacks in a nice manner.
Companies can give more attractive advertisements by using a website. It is possible because a potential customer is most likely to notice lucrative offers online rather than offline. Companies can also be benefited financially by having a website.
Small-scale companies can display tiny advertisements of other companies in their webpage to make money. These advertisements are too small to notice, yet they have the capability to draw a lot of money for the website-owner company.
A company can also place vital payment information in their website which will let the visitors know how to pay in case a transaction occurs. Some companies even offer the customers a very easy payment procedure through the website which is getting popular day by day.
Eating Fish May Actually Cause Diabetes
By Dr. Joseph Mercola
Evidence suggests that pollutants found in oily fish may be a cause of type 2 diabetes.
Korean researchers have found evidence that people who consume fish containing high levels of persistent organic pesticides (POPs) are more prone to developing insulin resistance, a precursor to diabetes.
POPs are synthetic chemicals that accumulate in the fatty tissue of animals.
Many POPs have been banned in developed countries, but they remain in the food chain. Oily fish are prone to accumulating these fat-soluble chemicals.
This may be one reason the obese are more prone to diabetes -- more fat in the body can result in higher levels of POPs. Obese patients with low POP levels have a lower incidence of diabetes than those with higher levels.
Diabetes Care, Vol. 30, No. 3, March 2007: 622-628
New Scientist April 12, 2007
BBC News April 12, 2007
Dr. Mercola's Comment:
Who would have ever thought that eating fish would cause cancer and diabetes? Well, that is exactly what happens when the human race pollutes the ocean by burning coal for electricity, which drops 40 tons of mercury into the ocean EVERY YEAR.
The mercury pollution contaminates the fish -- and a food that would typically prevent and treat cancer and diabetes turns into one that could actually cause it. Astounding when you actually reflect on it.
Exposure to mercury isn't the only "invisible" concern you should have when eating fish. Six different POPs -- among them DDT and PCBs -- have been implicated by this new study. POPs may work to harm your health especially in the very early stages of diabetes.
In a perfect world, fish would be a nearly perfect food for you to eat, because of the vital omega-3 fats and other nutrients that they contain. But all the pollutants in our water make it nearly impossible for me to recommend fish for you, unless you have lab results in your hand that can attest to its purity.
Your best and safest option: Take a high-quality krill or fish oil daily to get your supply of omega-3s. Innumerable studies have shown that omega-3s:
Counteract or prevent cardiac arrhythmia
Prevent thrombosis (a blood clot within a blood vessel)
Prevent fatty deposits and fibrosis of the inner layer of the arteries from forming
Counteract inflammation (heat, pain, swelling, etc.)
Improve endothelial function, a major factor in promoting the growth of new blood vessels
Lower blood pressure
Lower triglyceride, or neutral fat, concentrations
So even if you wisely wish to avoid fish, you should still get these vital nutrients into your diet.
Related Articles:
What You Must Know Before You Eat Fish
High Levels of Toxic Mercury Found in Fish-Eaters
The Health Risks of Salmon
Mercury in Your Fish
Evidence suggests that pollutants found in oily fish may be a cause of type 2 diabetes.
Korean researchers have found evidence that people who consume fish containing high levels of persistent organic pesticides (POPs) are more prone to developing insulin resistance, a precursor to diabetes.
POPs are synthetic chemicals that accumulate in the fatty tissue of animals.
Many POPs have been banned in developed countries, but they remain in the food chain. Oily fish are prone to accumulating these fat-soluble chemicals.
This may be one reason the obese are more prone to diabetes -- more fat in the body can result in higher levels of POPs. Obese patients with low POP levels have a lower incidence of diabetes than those with higher levels.
Diabetes Care, Vol. 30, No. 3, March 2007: 622-628
New Scientist April 12, 2007
BBC News April 12, 2007
Dr. Mercola's Comment:
Who would have ever thought that eating fish would cause cancer and diabetes? Well, that is exactly what happens when the human race pollutes the ocean by burning coal for electricity, which drops 40 tons of mercury into the ocean EVERY YEAR.
The mercury pollution contaminates the fish -- and a food that would typically prevent and treat cancer and diabetes turns into one that could actually cause it. Astounding when you actually reflect on it.
Exposure to mercury isn't the only "invisible" concern you should have when eating fish. Six different POPs -- among them DDT and PCBs -- have been implicated by this new study. POPs may work to harm your health especially in the very early stages of diabetes.
In a perfect world, fish would be a nearly perfect food for you to eat, because of the vital omega-3 fats and other nutrients that they contain. But all the pollutants in our water make it nearly impossible for me to recommend fish for you, unless you have lab results in your hand that can attest to its purity.
Your best and safest option: Take a high-quality krill or fish oil daily to get your supply of omega-3s. Innumerable studies have shown that omega-3s:
Counteract or prevent cardiac arrhythmia
Prevent thrombosis (a blood clot within a blood vessel)
Prevent fatty deposits and fibrosis of the inner layer of the arteries from forming
Counteract inflammation (heat, pain, swelling, etc.)
Improve endothelial function, a major factor in promoting the growth of new blood vessels
Lower blood pressure
Lower triglyceride, or neutral fat, concentrations
So even if you wisely wish to avoid fish, you should still get these vital nutrients into your diet.
Related Articles:
What You Must Know Before You Eat Fish
High Levels of Toxic Mercury Found in Fish-Eaters
The Health Risks of Salmon
Mercury in Your Fish
How to Easily Remove Dents From Your Car
By Dr. Joseph Mercola
Getting a simple dent in your car fixed by your friendly neighborhood mechanic or dealership, as you probably know, can be a very expensive proposition.
That is, unless you have a hair dryer and an airduster (that sprays liquid carbon dioxide at -78 degrees Fahrenheit).
You'll be as amazed and surprised as I was to watch how easy it is to fix a simple dent all by yourself with those two simple tools in almost no time at all.
Remember, saving money on practical things is one of the fun and free benefits of reading my blog every weekday.
UPDATE This video was removed but the link below remains. The video is actually terrific, but we did not realize that Metacafe the site that hosts the video actually advertises soft porn links about 20% of the time this video displays.
Remove Car Dent With Airduster - Click here for funny video clips
Related Articles:
The Best Car Commercial You Ever Saw
Imagine Using Water Instead of Gas in Your Car
Could Mass-Produced Electric Cars Finally be on the Way?
Getting a simple dent in your car fixed by your friendly neighborhood mechanic or dealership, as you probably know, can be a very expensive proposition.
That is, unless you have a hair dryer and an airduster (that sprays liquid carbon dioxide at -78 degrees Fahrenheit).
You'll be as amazed and surprised as I was to watch how easy it is to fix a simple dent all by yourself with those two simple tools in almost no time at all.
Remember, saving money on practical things is one of the fun and free benefits of reading my blog every weekday.
UPDATE This video was removed but the link below remains. The video is actually terrific, but we did not realize that Metacafe the site that hosts the video actually advertises soft porn links about 20% of the time this video displays.
Remove Car Dent With Airduster - Click here for funny video clips
Related Articles:
The Best Car Commercial You Ever Saw
Imagine Using Water Instead of Gas in Your Car
Could Mass-Produced Electric Cars Finally be on the Way?
Making Money - Is $100,000 Enough? - 5 Tips On Money Making - $250,000+
By Greg Nicholls
There used to be a day that making money over $100,000 was a great income. Yea sure, only 5% of people in North America make that kind of money individually, but I know a few "broke" people making over $100,000 per year (in most cases they do not realize how broke they are) as they are two months from the street without their income.
Sound familiar? It is NOT enough if you want to sustain a lifestyle that gets better over time!Feel you can do better in the money making game?
To live a lifestyle worth bragging about, you need to be earning at least $250,000 per year and in many cases much more than that.
If you are reading this and making $30,000, $50,000, or $75,000, you probably think I am nuts, in your world, $100,000 is an awesome amount of money. Read this because what I am going to reveal applies to your too!
You have just as much potential (if not more) to make in excess of $250,000 if you put your mind to it.
Here it is, $100,000 is not enough to get financed to buy a house these days in my city, you will be lucky to get a townhouse or a condo. Want to drive a Merc, BMW or a Porsche, forget it, unless you do not have a house, any debt, or kids. How about a boat, a plane, a summer cabin, frequent travel...
Nope!
You may now be asking "So genius, what should I do?" Further to that you, are likely thinking; "I don't have enough education, or experience in my field to get that kind of income!" Then get out of your field and find something else!
You can succeed if you decide to because whether you think you can, or think your can't, you're probably right! The fact is this...
If you keep doing what you are doing you will keep getting what you have got! Things will not get better, they will only get worse because you will never likely be satisfied with your "lot in life".
1. If you do not own your own business, you are giving up 2/3 of your income, yes that's right, the people that have hired you and paid you are making twice as much off of you as you are off of them. Do the math!
2. If you do not own your own business, you are paying 15 - 20% more in taxes because you are not benefiting from the rules made for those that make business happen - the owners of business make the rules because they have the money. Yes, the Golden Rule: "The ones with the Gold make the Rules."
3. If you do not own your own business, the hours that you work are likely much more than that of the people you work for; you probably work at least 10 - 15 hours more per week than the business owners do.
Ever stay late, or take your work home? What about the weekends and vacation time, do you work then too? Do you answer your email at night? Why do you think business owners have the Country Club memberships and Travel all the time? It is because YOU are doing all the work for them!
4. If you do not own your own business, Medical, Dental and Extended healthcare is not a write-off, but a taxable expense. Sure it seems great to have "benefits" with your employer, but the fact is the insurance cost is not that bad and if you have your own business, you get to write this off against your companies profits and in the end you will pay less in taxes
5. If you do not own your own business, you are sacrificing your ability to make as much as you want. Being self employed carries with it the luxury to make as much as you want...your success and lifestyle is totally in your control!
Deciding to start your own business is a good first step; but what do you do? Assess your abilities, desires, work ethic, education, likes, dislikes and write all this stuff out.
You have to now determine what you truly WANT to do, but PLEASE, take the time to figure out how much money you can make at whatever you are considering doing.
It is great to think that you really like to own your own business doing whatever, just be sure to start one that will meet your financial desires.
There are millions of ways to make $250,000 - $1,000,000+ in your own business, whatever you do, make sure there is a large component of FUN attached to it, or it will likely never work out; you have to love what you do.
The only way to make money over $100,000 per year is to get out of your comfort zone; it is ok to leave your comfort zone for something better, especially if you want to dominate the money making game!
Find out how Greg Nicholls has achieved Financial Success by subscribing to the “Deserve Money Newsletter” for free. Visit http://www.DeserveMoney.com right now for all the details.
Greg is also known for teaching people a simple system on how to build a successful business while working from home; for more information about the business that brought home a 60-70 hour per week executive, who now makes more money on 1/3 the hours;
Contact Greg by email at info@DeserveMoney.com, or call his toll free number right now from anywhere in North America 24/7 at 1-800-388-4563, or from outside North America to Canada at +778-786-2287 to setup your appointment.
Greg Nicholls, a 36 year old Husband, Father & Entrepreneur will help you understand why you Deserve Money in your life and how to get it! To subscribe to his free weekly newsletter, visit http://www.deservemoney.com and begin to benefit from his inspiring insights today.
There used to be a day that making money over $100,000 was a great income. Yea sure, only 5% of people in North America make that kind of money individually, but I know a few "broke" people making over $100,000 per year (in most cases they do not realize how broke they are) as they are two months from the street without their income.
Sound familiar? It is NOT enough if you want to sustain a lifestyle that gets better over time!Feel you can do better in the money making game?
To live a lifestyle worth bragging about, you need to be earning at least $250,000 per year and in many cases much more than that.
If you are reading this and making $30,000, $50,000, or $75,000, you probably think I am nuts, in your world, $100,000 is an awesome amount of money. Read this because what I am going to reveal applies to your too!
You have just as much potential (if not more) to make in excess of $250,000 if you put your mind to it.
Here it is, $100,000 is not enough to get financed to buy a house these days in my city, you will be lucky to get a townhouse or a condo. Want to drive a Merc, BMW or a Porsche, forget it, unless you do not have a house, any debt, or kids. How about a boat, a plane, a summer cabin, frequent travel...
Nope!
You may now be asking "So genius, what should I do?" Further to that you, are likely thinking; "I don't have enough education, or experience in my field to get that kind of income!" Then get out of your field and find something else!
You can succeed if you decide to because whether you think you can, or think your can't, you're probably right! The fact is this...
If you keep doing what you are doing you will keep getting what you have got! Things will not get better, they will only get worse because you will never likely be satisfied with your "lot in life".
1. If you do not own your own business, you are giving up 2/3 of your income, yes that's right, the people that have hired you and paid you are making twice as much off of you as you are off of them. Do the math!
2. If you do not own your own business, you are paying 15 - 20% more in taxes because you are not benefiting from the rules made for those that make business happen - the owners of business make the rules because they have the money. Yes, the Golden Rule: "The ones with the Gold make the Rules."
3. If you do not own your own business, the hours that you work are likely much more than that of the people you work for; you probably work at least 10 - 15 hours more per week than the business owners do.
Ever stay late, or take your work home? What about the weekends and vacation time, do you work then too? Do you answer your email at night? Why do you think business owners have the Country Club memberships and Travel all the time? It is because YOU are doing all the work for them!
4. If you do not own your own business, Medical, Dental and Extended healthcare is not a write-off, but a taxable expense. Sure it seems great to have "benefits" with your employer, but the fact is the insurance cost is not that bad and if you have your own business, you get to write this off against your companies profits and in the end you will pay less in taxes
5. If you do not own your own business, you are sacrificing your ability to make as much as you want. Being self employed carries with it the luxury to make as much as you want...your success and lifestyle is totally in your control!
Deciding to start your own business is a good first step; but what do you do? Assess your abilities, desires, work ethic, education, likes, dislikes and write all this stuff out.
You have to now determine what you truly WANT to do, but PLEASE, take the time to figure out how much money you can make at whatever you are considering doing.
It is great to think that you really like to own your own business doing whatever, just be sure to start one that will meet your financial desires.
There are millions of ways to make $250,000 - $1,000,000+ in your own business, whatever you do, make sure there is a large component of FUN attached to it, or it will likely never work out; you have to love what you do.
The only way to make money over $100,000 per year is to get out of your comfort zone; it is ok to leave your comfort zone for something better, especially if you want to dominate the money making game!
Find out how Greg Nicholls has achieved Financial Success by subscribing to the “Deserve Money Newsletter” for free. Visit http://www.DeserveMoney.com right now for all the details.
Greg is also known for teaching people a simple system on how to build a successful business while working from home; for more information about the business that brought home a 60-70 hour per week executive, who now makes more money on 1/3 the hours;
Contact Greg by email at info@DeserveMoney.com, or call his toll free number right now from anywhere in North America 24/7 at 1-800-388-4563, or from outside North America to Canada at +778-786-2287 to setup your appointment.
Greg Nicholls, a 36 year old Husband, Father & Entrepreneur will help you understand why you Deserve Money in your life and how to get it! To subscribe to his free weekly newsletter, visit http://www.deservemoney.com and begin to benefit from his inspiring insights today.
Make Money At Home -- How To Make This Possible
By Greg Nicholls
If you choose to, you can come up with a business, or an idea that will allow you to make money at home.
When you consider the costs of going into the “office” every day; extra car insurance, maintenance on your car because of wear and tear, time that you do not get paid for commuting, daycare, as well as lunches, business clothes, GAS and simply the fact that you are doing all this to make someone else much more money than you are, because they own the company.
Your day now:
5:30am – wake up, shower and dress
6:15am – make breakfast for you and the kids if you did not sleep in
6:40am – begin to commute to the office (drop off kids at daycare)
7:59am – arrive at the office
10:00am – get a coffee
12:00pm – have your lunch (maybe at your desk because you are too busy)
2:30pm – have another coffee
4:45pm – get ready to go home
5:00pm – begin commute to home (pick up kids from daycare
6:30pm – traffic was bad, finally at home
6:35pm – begin to make dinner, turn on the TV
6:50pm – eat dinner
9:00pm – kids go to bed, watch more TV
11:00pm – go to bed, all stressed out about doing this again tomorrow.
This is insanity!
Make Money at Home and here is your potential day:
7:00am – wake up, shower and dress
7:45am – make breakfast for you, and the kids
8:30am – drive the kids to school
9:00am – begin to make money at home
10:30am – throw the ball with the dog in the back-yard for 15 minutes, have a coffee
12:00pm – go downstairs for lunch
2:30pm – leave to pick up the kids from school
3:00pm – go to the park, go swimming, or just hang out with the family.
4:30pm – begin to prepare dinner
5:00pm – enjoy dinner with the family
5:45pm – do whatever you want
9:00pm – kids go to bed, you do some planning for your day tomorrow
11:00 – go to bed with no stress about your day tomorrow.
Every day is awesome!
The fact is you can make money at home if you just put your mind to it for a while. Think about it, you are paid for your skills at work, you likely did not have the best skills when you started out, so you probably went to get specialized training (Degree, Certification, Apprenticeship, etc) and earned your worth.
You can learn to make money at home without having to go back to some in-depth training and years out of your life. There are many businesses that you can start and run to make money at home and if you do, you will benefit from making 100% of the profit money, not sharing 2/3 of it with a boss.
Take a moment and think about it…
What would you love to do that you could run from your home?
Could what you do be portable?
What if all you needed were a computer and a cell phone?
Do you like to travel?
Once you have put your thought into it (maybe do this instead of watching TV for a while) you will realize that there is merit to your ideas. But wait…maybe you have never done this before.
Maybe you do not have the money to quit your job today and cut the “job security” purse strings.
It is ok, you can learn how to start your business, market it and manage it, before you leave your job. It will just take some time (part time) to do, but it will be worth it.
Average people watch 4 hours of TV per day; if you were to put that kind of time into developing your own business part time, then you will have every chance to succeed in life and you will make money at home.
Get your life back today and make money at home!
P.S. – to find out more about what you can do to make money at home, contact Greg today at Greg@DeserveMoney.com or toll free in North America 1-800-388-4563 outside North America +778-786-2287.
If you choose to, you can come up with a business, or an idea that will allow you to make money at home.
When you consider the costs of going into the “office” every day; extra car insurance, maintenance on your car because of wear and tear, time that you do not get paid for commuting, daycare, as well as lunches, business clothes, GAS and simply the fact that you are doing all this to make someone else much more money than you are, because they own the company.
Your day now:
5:30am – wake up, shower and dress
6:15am – make breakfast for you and the kids if you did not sleep in
6:40am – begin to commute to the office (drop off kids at daycare)
7:59am – arrive at the office
10:00am – get a coffee
12:00pm – have your lunch (maybe at your desk because you are too busy)
2:30pm – have another coffee
4:45pm – get ready to go home
5:00pm – begin commute to home (pick up kids from daycare
6:30pm – traffic was bad, finally at home
6:35pm – begin to make dinner, turn on the TV
6:50pm – eat dinner
9:00pm – kids go to bed, watch more TV
11:00pm – go to bed, all stressed out about doing this again tomorrow.
This is insanity!
Make Money at Home and here is your potential day:
7:00am – wake up, shower and dress
7:45am – make breakfast for you, and the kids
8:30am – drive the kids to school
9:00am – begin to make money at home
10:30am – throw the ball with the dog in the back-yard for 15 minutes, have a coffee
12:00pm – go downstairs for lunch
2:30pm – leave to pick up the kids from school
3:00pm – go to the park, go swimming, or just hang out with the family.
4:30pm – begin to prepare dinner
5:00pm – enjoy dinner with the family
5:45pm – do whatever you want
9:00pm – kids go to bed, you do some planning for your day tomorrow
11:00 – go to bed with no stress about your day tomorrow.
Every day is awesome!
The fact is you can make money at home if you just put your mind to it for a while. Think about it, you are paid for your skills at work, you likely did not have the best skills when you started out, so you probably went to get specialized training (Degree, Certification, Apprenticeship, etc) and earned your worth.
You can learn to make money at home without having to go back to some in-depth training and years out of your life. There are many businesses that you can start and run to make money at home and if you do, you will benefit from making 100% of the profit money, not sharing 2/3 of it with a boss.
Take a moment and think about it…
What would you love to do that you could run from your home?
Could what you do be portable?
What if all you needed were a computer and a cell phone?
Do you like to travel?
Once you have put your thought into it (maybe do this instead of watching TV for a while) you will realize that there is merit to your ideas. But wait…maybe you have never done this before.
Maybe you do not have the money to quit your job today and cut the “job security” purse strings.
It is ok, you can learn how to start your business, market it and manage it, before you leave your job. It will just take some time (part time) to do, but it will be worth it.
Average people watch 4 hours of TV per day; if you were to put that kind of time into developing your own business part time, then you will have every chance to succeed in life and you will make money at home.
Get your life back today and make money at home!
P.S. – to find out more about what you can do to make money at home, contact Greg today at Greg@DeserveMoney.com or toll free in North America 1-800-388-4563 outside North America +778-786-2287.
Cocktail Advice -- The Pros from Dover Chimes on Making Great Cocktails
From The American Mixologist
If you only had one opportunity to pass on three pieces of advice to a rookie bartender about making cocktails, what would they be? In other words, based on your experience, what are the three most important things an up-and-coming bartender must know about the fine art of crafting cocktails?
That’s the question we posed to 21 of the country’s leading beverage experts. The roster includes noted authors, trade writers, national operators, general managers, consultants and master mixologists. Each of the interviewees has at one point in their lives relied on bartending as their livelihood and is now an impassioned advocate of the profession.
The most appropriate, all-encompassing piece of advice was offered by Dale DeGroff, the author of The Craft of the Cocktail and the man most often credited with the resurgence of the cocktail. “My advice is not to waste your time with second rate bartending.
By that I mean taking shortcuts, all of which are telling in the finished drinks. Great cocktails are made with the freshest and best ingredients, employing the right techniques and according to prescribed recipes, whatever they may be. That’s the big picture, that’s the goal.”
Our experts’ best pieces of advice on attaining mixology excellence are contained herein. What advice do the “pros from Dover” have on the art of making cocktails? Be prepared [rookies], many of their answers may well surprise you.
Study the Classics
A working familiarity of the classic cocktail recipes constitutes the beginning of a bartender’s transformation into a mixologist. These timeless formulations represent the finest taste combinations of the last century or so.
“A pro behind the bar must know the classics, not just Margaritas, but Old-Fashions, Manhattans, Sidecars, Negronis and other venerable cocktails that we loosely refer to as the classics,” says former Cheers editor and veteran bartender Jack Robertiello.
“You may not be asked to prepare them often, but the value is in the knowing and in understanding the basics on which nearly all other cocktails are based.”Adam Seger, general manager of Chicago’s Nacional 27 Restaurant adds that mixologists need to appreciate why these classic cocktails work.
“It’s this level of understanding that leads to creative excellence. Mixologists need to think in terms of flavor profile and balance. There are creative lines and patterns that need to be understood. For instance, the Margarita essentially works for the same reasons the Sidecar does.
”Rookies at Joe’s Seafood, Prime Steak & Stone Crab need to know the recipes to the restaurant’s 20 bestselling cocktails and know them like their zip codes, this according to Dan Barringer, bar manager at the Lettuce Entertain You property.
“Novice bartenders will probably have spent time learning a bunch of cocktail recipes, whether at a bartending school or otherwise. But what’s important is perfecting how to prepare your bar’s body of recipes. Anticipate what will be asked of you and be prepared to execute with precision and professionalism.”
Never Serve an Inferior Drink
One of the pieces of advice most frequently proffered dealt with the concept of quality above all else. “Guest satisfaction is attained one drink at a time,” says Julie Mulisano, general manager of Refrectory Restaurant in Columbus, OH.
“Therefore, how can you risk serving anything that’s not of the highest quality? Guests naturally presume that if you’re cutting corners in the front of the house you are doing so in the back as well.”
Gary Regan, the acknowledged guru of enhanced drink making and author of the seminal work, Joy of Mixology, is an outspoken advocate for making drinks using only the freshest, highest quality ingredients. “Maintaining uncompromising standards is how great cocktails are made.
It was the cache of professionalism a hundred years ago, and it remains that way today.”Scott Beattie is the resident mixologist at Cyrus Restaurant in San Francisco. He goes as far as saying that drinks shouldn’t be prepared with products containing artificial flavors and coloring.
“With a few exceptions, the only flavors I want to taste in a cocktail come from nature and the only coloring I want to see in a spirit should be derived from oak barreling.”
3 Succeeding with a “quality above all else” strategy is born out by the numbers says Mike Ginley, a leading on-premise marketing consultant. “Research shows that consumer 80% of consumers believe that premium spirits make better drinks.
What’s more, consumers expect to pay more for better drinks made with premium brands. So think of the guest and mix with the best.”Ginley points out to bartenders that offering guests suggestions on premium brands for their cocktails is the height of conscientious service. The guests’ drinks are guaranteed to taste better and the house makes out better financially.
Follow Recipes with Precision
Tim Kirkland is the manager of beverage development for Rock Bottom Restaurants. A seasoned bartender, he contends that strict adherence to recipes is one of the immutable tenets of mixology.
“Devising a delicious, precisely balanced cocktail from scratch is challenging. By the time a drink recipe becomes part of the lexicon of the business, bartenders can presume that it has withstood its trail by fire. Do your guests a favor, don’t deviate from the recipe.”
Janos Wilder, chef/owner of Janos Restaurant and the J Bar in Tucson firmly agrees. “There’s a certain sanctity in cocktail recipes. They represent a singular balancing of ingredients and should be followed exactly until they are completely ingrained in your muscle memory.
Accuracy is more important than speed or show.”All drinks should be jiggered for consistency contends Anistatia Miller, co-author of Shaken Not Stirred — The Celebration of the Martini. “It’s a practice done by the best bartenders in London.
Don’t rely on the “count” or the “eye.” Determine your glassware sizes and measure your drinks accordingly. Then, and only then, will you be able to achieve consistency in what you produce.”
Balance in Cocktails is Crucial
Chef Janos Wilder advises bartenders that the secret to great cocktails is balance. “Excellent cocktails are made from a fine balance of spirits, mixes, temperature, garnish and appearance. For a cocktail to be great, every part of the drink has to be correct.”
Jacques Bezuidenhou heartily agrees. Beverage manager at Harry Denton Star Light Room in San Francisco, Jacques has won numerous international drink competitions. “The key to an exemplary cocktail is undoubtedly balance.
No one ingredient should be more prominent than another. Make sure the sweet and sour aspect is balanced and all the flavors are working in harmony.”
Taste Everything
“Bartenders are far too accepting of marketing nonsense in place of education. It’s just like wine; if you want to understand it, taste it,” advises Doug Frost, master sommelier, author and educator.
“Here’s one example, there are many people in this industry opposed to using freshly squeezed juices behind the bar, that is until they taste a drink made from fresh juice against one made with a mix. Anybody can smell and taste the difference. You have to taste your drinks if you expect them to taste great. Then it becomes obvious that great drinks require fresh, quality ingredients.”
Writer Anistatia Miller also urges bartenders to learn how drinks taste. “Don’t just follow a recipe out of a book, learn why a particular cocktail works. Analyze the balance of flavors. Learn to appreciate the difference between a 2:1 Martini and 3:1 Martini.
That’s how you begin to gain mastery of the process.”Master mixologist Dale DeGroff takes it one step further. “I think bartenders should taste everything behind the bar — spirits, wines, beers, sake, sochu, cocktail recipes.
If they come across five recipes for the same cocktail, taste them all. This is a profession that deals in potable beverages and slowly over time a good beverage professional should become the master of them all.”
Know Your Products
“If you aren’t familiar and knowledgeable with the ingredients behind the bar, you can’t hope to be able to make good drinks,” states author Gary Regan.
Jack Robertiello adds, “Not only do bartenders need to know the ingredients, they should expect the learning process to continue and that they should be ready to teach themselves and refine their knowledge as much as possible as they go along.
That means finding out enough about each spirit category so that if a customer asks, they don’t end up giving an insouciant shrug and walking away.”Longtime bartender Scott Young is one of North America’s leading trainers of flair and extreme bartending.
He agrees that a bartender should be able to speak intelligently about spirits with guests, knowing the nuances and stories behind each brand, but mixologists need to apply that knowledge in a concrete manner.
“As a mixologist you need to appreciate how each brand will alter the flavor balance of a cocktail. Those changes may affect how a guest reacts to the drink. As a bartender you need to know how to remedy those situations when they arise.”
Adopt the Profession
“Rookies should realize that they’ve entered a time-honored profession,” says Anastatia Miller. “In addition, they need to remember that no one comes to a bar for a drink. Patrons come to a bar to socialize and to experience the drinks that you make.
It’s the craftsmanship that adds to the ambience of a whole experience: the bartender’s ritual of making the drink, the interaction with the bartender and other patrons, the sensual nature of consuming a drink (similar to eating food in a restaurant).
Otherwise, they could go home and pour two fingers of bourbon and read a book.” Professionalism means that you’re constantly learning, says DeGroff.
“Don’t be embarrassed to admit that you don’t know a recipe, or a spirit. Listen to the guests. Ask lots of questions and hunt down the information you need about recipes, techniques, etc. You’re not going to get it all in six months...maybe in six years!
Do the research and get it right, and when you finally do get it right, stand by it. There are lots of ‘experienced’ bartenders out there who don’t know what they are doing!”Cindy Busi, global beverage director for Hard Rock Cafes, has learned to admire how people approach bartending in Europe.
“They consider the position a profession and you can see its impact in so many ways. For instance, if certain mixes or infusions need to be prepared in advance of a shift, bartenders will voluntarily come in early to make sure the items are prepped and fully stocked.
That degree of professionalism is reflected in everything from the cleanliness of their bars to their enthusiasm for continuing education and training.”
Maintain Your Work Environment
“Veteran bartenders know from experience that keeping your drink station clean and organized makes you a better bartender,” says Dan Barringer of Joe’s Seafood, Prime Steak & Stone Crab.
“About the last thing you want is to have six guests walk up to the bar, call for six different Martinis only to discover that all the shakers are dirty. In this business, a lot can happen all at once. I ask you, how well do you think those Martinis will turn out?”
According to Gary Regan, organization is key to great service. “Every bottle and every tool must always be in the same place all the time. When you’ve used it, put it back where it belongs.
Didn’t your mother teach you anything?” Barry Carter, vice president of beverage operations for Dave & Busters believes that a large part of the fun and romance of the bar is found in watching a craftsman at work. “Know where everything you need is supposed to be and make sure it’s there. Don’t let a misplaced product or item dispel the magic.”
Service Trumps All
It’s been Scott Young’s experience that most rookie bartenders contend their primary job is to make drinks and collect the money. Well, it’s not.
“Once you disabuse them of the notion that they are not mere drink-slingers, it’s time to sit them down and open their eyes to a few other realities of the business, the most important of which is that great service trumps great drinks.”
Hard Rock’s Cindy Busi puts it another way. “Let’s face it, even the finest and most skillfully crafted cocktail will leave a bitter aftertaste if served by a surly and unpleasant bartender.”
ROBERT PLOTKIN is the author of numerous books including The Original Guide to American Cocktails and Drinks --5th Edition. He can be reached at BarMedia, 1-800-421-7179, or e-mail him at
If you only had one opportunity to pass on three pieces of advice to a rookie bartender about making cocktails, what would they be? In other words, based on your experience, what are the three most important things an up-and-coming bartender must know about the fine art of crafting cocktails?
That’s the question we posed to 21 of the country’s leading beverage experts. The roster includes noted authors, trade writers, national operators, general managers, consultants and master mixologists. Each of the interviewees has at one point in their lives relied on bartending as their livelihood and is now an impassioned advocate of the profession.
The most appropriate, all-encompassing piece of advice was offered by Dale DeGroff, the author of The Craft of the Cocktail and the man most often credited with the resurgence of the cocktail. “My advice is not to waste your time with second rate bartending.
By that I mean taking shortcuts, all of which are telling in the finished drinks. Great cocktails are made with the freshest and best ingredients, employing the right techniques and according to prescribed recipes, whatever they may be. That’s the big picture, that’s the goal.”
Our experts’ best pieces of advice on attaining mixology excellence are contained herein. What advice do the “pros from Dover” have on the art of making cocktails? Be prepared [rookies], many of their answers may well surprise you.
Study the Classics
A working familiarity of the classic cocktail recipes constitutes the beginning of a bartender’s transformation into a mixologist. These timeless formulations represent the finest taste combinations of the last century or so.
“A pro behind the bar must know the classics, not just Margaritas, but Old-Fashions, Manhattans, Sidecars, Negronis and other venerable cocktails that we loosely refer to as the classics,” says former Cheers editor and veteran bartender Jack Robertiello.
“You may not be asked to prepare them often, but the value is in the knowing and in understanding the basics on which nearly all other cocktails are based.”Adam Seger, general manager of Chicago’s Nacional 27 Restaurant adds that mixologists need to appreciate why these classic cocktails work.
“It’s this level of understanding that leads to creative excellence. Mixologists need to think in terms of flavor profile and balance. There are creative lines and patterns that need to be understood. For instance, the Margarita essentially works for the same reasons the Sidecar does.
”Rookies at Joe’s Seafood, Prime Steak & Stone Crab need to know the recipes to the restaurant’s 20 bestselling cocktails and know them like their zip codes, this according to Dan Barringer, bar manager at the Lettuce Entertain You property.
“Novice bartenders will probably have spent time learning a bunch of cocktail recipes, whether at a bartending school or otherwise. But what’s important is perfecting how to prepare your bar’s body of recipes. Anticipate what will be asked of you and be prepared to execute with precision and professionalism.”
Never Serve an Inferior Drink
One of the pieces of advice most frequently proffered dealt with the concept of quality above all else. “Guest satisfaction is attained one drink at a time,” says Julie Mulisano, general manager of Refrectory Restaurant in Columbus, OH.
“Therefore, how can you risk serving anything that’s not of the highest quality? Guests naturally presume that if you’re cutting corners in the front of the house you are doing so in the back as well.”
Gary Regan, the acknowledged guru of enhanced drink making and author of the seminal work, Joy of Mixology, is an outspoken advocate for making drinks using only the freshest, highest quality ingredients. “Maintaining uncompromising standards is how great cocktails are made.
It was the cache of professionalism a hundred years ago, and it remains that way today.”Scott Beattie is the resident mixologist at Cyrus Restaurant in San Francisco. He goes as far as saying that drinks shouldn’t be prepared with products containing artificial flavors and coloring.
“With a few exceptions, the only flavors I want to taste in a cocktail come from nature and the only coloring I want to see in a spirit should be derived from oak barreling.”
3 Succeeding with a “quality above all else” strategy is born out by the numbers says Mike Ginley, a leading on-premise marketing consultant. “Research shows that consumer 80% of consumers believe that premium spirits make better drinks.
What’s more, consumers expect to pay more for better drinks made with premium brands. So think of the guest and mix with the best.”Ginley points out to bartenders that offering guests suggestions on premium brands for their cocktails is the height of conscientious service. The guests’ drinks are guaranteed to taste better and the house makes out better financially.
Follow Recipes with Precision
Tim Kirkland is the manager of beverage development for Rock Bottom Restaurants. A seasoned bartender, he contends that strict adherence to recipes is one of the immutable tenets of mixology.
“Devising a delicious, precisely balanced cocktail from scratch is challenging. By the time a drink recipe becomes part of the lexicon of the business, bartenders can presume that it has withstood its trail by fire. Do your guests a favor, don’t deviate from the recipe.”
Janos Wilder, chef/owner of Janos Restaurant and the J Bar in Tucson firmly agrees. “There’s a certain sanctity in cocktail recipes. They represent a singular balancing of ingredients and should be followed exactly until they are completely ingrained in your muscle memory.
Accuracy is more important than speed or show.”All drinks should be jiggered for consistency contends Anistatia Miller, co-author of Shaken Not Stirred — The Celebration of the Martini. “It’s a practice done by the best bartenders in London.
Don’t rely on the “count” or the “eye.” Determine your glassware sizes and measure your drinks accordingly. Then, and only then, will you be able to achieve consistency in what you produce.”
Balance in Cocktails is Crucial
Chef Janos Wilder advises bartenders that the secret to great cocktails is balance. “Excellent cocktails are made from a fine balance of spirits, mixes, temperature, garnish and appearance. For a cocktail to be great, every part of the drink has to be correct.”
Jacques Bezuidenhou heartily agrees. Beverage manager at Harry Denton Star Light Room in San Francisco, Jacques has won numerous international drink competitions. “The key to an exemplary cocktail is undoubtedly balance.
No one ingredient should be more prominent than another. Make sure the sweet and sour aspect is balanced and all the flavors are working in harmony.”
Taste Everything
“Bartenders are far too accepting of marketing nonsense in place of education. It’s just like wine; if you want to understand it, taste it,” advises Doug Frost, master sommelier, author and educator.
“Here’s one example, there are many people in this industry opposed to using freshly squeezed juices behind the bar, that is until they taste a drink made from fresh juice against one made with a mix. Anybody can smell and taste the difference. You have to taste your drinks if you expect them to taste great. Then it becomes obvious that great drinks require fresh, quality ingredients.”
Writer Anistatia Miller also urges bartenders to learn how drinks taste. “Don’t just follow a recipe out of a book, learn why a particular cocktail works. Analyze the balance of flavors. Learn to appreciate the difference between a 2:1 Martini and 3:1 Martini.
That’s how you begin to gain mastery of the process.”Master mixologist Dale DeGroff takes it one step further. “I think bartenders should taste everything behind the bar — spirits, wines, beers, sake, sochu, cocktail recipes.
If they come across five recipes for the same cocktail, taste them all. This is a profession that deals in potable beverages and slowly over time a good beverage professional should become the master of them all.”
Know Your Products
“If you aren’t familiar and knowledgeable with the ingredients behind the bar, you can’t hope to be able to make good drinks,” states author Gary Regan.
Jack Robertiello adds, “Not only do bartenders need to know the ingredients, they should expect the learning process to continue and that they should be ready to teach themselves and refine their knowledge as much as possible as they go along.
That means finding out enough about each spirit category so that if a customer asks, they don’t end up giving an insouciant shrug and walking away.”Longtime bartender Scott Young is one of North America’s leading trainers of flair and extreme bartending.
He agrees that a bartender should be able to speak intelligently about spirits with guests, knowing the nuances and stories behind each brand, but mixologists need to apply that knowledge in a concrete manner.
“As a mixologist you need to appreciate how each brand will alter the flavor balance of a cocktail. Those changes may affect how a guest reacts to the drink. As a bartender you need to know how to remedy those situations when they arise.”
Adopt the Profession
“Rookies should realize that they’ve entered a time-honored profession,” says Anastatia Miller. “In addition, they need to remember that no one comes to a bar for a drink. Patrons come to a bar to socialize and to experience the drinks that you make.
It’s the craftsmanship that adds to the ambience of a whole experience: the bartender’s ritual of making the drink, the interaction with the bartender and other patrons, the sensual nature of consuming a drink (similar to eating food in a restaurant).
Otherwise, they could go home and pour two fingers of bourbon and read a book.” Professionalism means that you’re constantly learning, says DeGroff.
“Don’t be embarrassed to admit that you don’t know a recipe, or a spirit. Listen to the guests. Ask lots of questions and hunt down the information you need about recipes, techniques, etc. You’re not going to get it all in six months...maybe in six years!
Do the research and get it right, and when you finally do get it right, stand by it. There are lots of ‘experienced’ bartenders out there who don’t know what they are doing!”Cindy Busi, global beverage director for Hard Rock Cafes, has learned to admire how people approach bartending in Europe.
“They consider the position a profession and you can see its impact in so many ways. For instance, if certain mixes or infusions need to be prepared in advance of a shift, bartenders will voluntarily come in early to make sure the items are prepped and fully stocked.
That degree of professionalism is reflected in everything from the cleanliness of their bars to their enthusiasm for continuing education and training.”
Maintain Your Work Environment
“Veteran bartenders know from experience that keeping your drink station clean and organized makes you a better bartender,” says Dan Barringer of Joe’s Seafood, Prime Steak & Stone Crab.
“About the last thing you want is to have six guests walk up to the bar, call for six different Martinis only to discover that all the shakers are dirty. In this business, a lot can happen all at once. I ask you, how well do you think those Martinis will turn out?”
According to Gary Regan, organization is key to great service. “Every bottle and every tool must always be in the same place all the time. When you’ve used it, put it back where it belongs.
Didn’t your mother teach you anything?” Barry Carter, vice president of beverage operations for Dave & Busters believes that a large part of the fun and romance of the bar is found in watching a craftsman at work. “Know where everything you need is supposed to be and make sure it’s there. Don’t let a misplaced product or item dispel the magic.”
Service Trumps All
It’s been Scott Young’s experience that most rookie bartenders contend their primary job is to make drinks and collect the money. Well, it’s not.
“Once you disabuse them of the notion that they are not mere drink-slingers, it’s time to sit them down and open their eyes to a few other realities of the business, the most important of which is that great service trumps great drinks.”
Hard Rock’s Cindy Busi puts it another way. “Let’s face it, even the finest and most skillfully crafted cocktail will leave a bitter aftertaste if served by a surly and unpleasant bartender.”
ROBERT PLOTKIN is the author of numerous books including The Original Guide to American Cocktails and Drinks --5th Edition. He can be reached at BarMedia, 1-800-421-7179, or e-mail him at