Renting Ideas Continued:

Posted on July 27, 2015 by
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Here are some more ideas for anyone considering renting a home or an apartment.

– To get a competitive edge over other applicants, bring the following when you meet the landlord: a completed rental application; written references from landlords, employers, and colleagues; and a current copy of your credit report.
– Draw up a budget and take a hard look at where your money is going. If you’ve got some time before hitting the market for a new rental, run the numbers using services such as GoSimplifi, Mint, Yodlee, moneyStrands, LendingTree’s MoneyRight or HelloWallet.
– 30% of budget should be for housing costs
– To avoid disputes or misunderstandings with your landlord, get everything in writing.
– Consider additional expenses such at utilities
– Do you need electrical outlets or a nook within one of your home’s rooms
– Security deposit equivalent to one month of rent,
– Would you be willing to live on a ground floor, use stairs
– Invest in pieces/furniture that you love and you know you will use
– Amount of notice your landlord must provide before entering), it will be easier to protect them. For more information, see Tenants’ Rights to Privacy and Repairs FAQ.
– Save yourself $40 or so and take apart your moving boxes when you are done unpacking and place them in a closet or under your bed.
– Check your contract. Dig it out and give it another read. Does it say the carpets need to be deep cleaned, or that all picture hooks need to be removed and filled in?
– Street parking?
– Landlord is responsible for buildings insurance, so you should only be getting contents cover
– Determine how you spend your time, does your new place compliment your interests.
– Set the design tone in your rental by replacing the standard lights with new ones that fit your taste.
– Free furniture etc. It’s all about web communities, and the big names are Freecycle and Freegle.
– WalkScore site: lets you run searches for a given address or neighborhood so you can see its proximity to coffee shops, restaurants, grocers, public transit and schools.
– If your rental unit is not kept in good repair, you have a number of options, ranging from withholding a portion of the rent, to paying for repairs and deducting the cost from your rent,
– Read on where and what types of crime are happening in your area. check out Neighborhood Scout, Spot Crime, Crime Mapping, Crime Reports and Nixle, as well as neighborhood blogs.
– Your landlord’s insurance policy will not cover your losses due to theft or damage. Renters’ insurance also covers you if you’re sued by someone who claims to have been injured in your Rental due to your carelessness.
– Apartment in a high-rise apartment building
– Suburbs, townhouses or single-family homes
– When you move in, do a walk-through with the landlord to record existing damage to the premises
– Clean 1: Bicarb of soda, soda crystals, vinegar, newspaper and Oven Pride are pretty much all anyone needs to clean a house.
– Clean 2: Sugar soap removes emulsioned wall scuffs that no other cleaning product shifts without taking paint too. Wipe gently, don’t rub.
– Clean 3: Lie on your back in the middle of each room, you would not believe the snagging found just looking from a different angle. It works!

Sources:
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/mortgages/rent-a-property
http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/10-great-tips-for-renters-87121
http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/ten-tips-tenants-29446.html
http://www.hgtv.com/design/real-estate/5-steps-to-finding-the-perfect-rental-home

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Only a matter of time 2:

Posted on July 26, 2015 by
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I recently attended a Book of Mormon evidence conference. I listened to a number of panels that gave archaeological evidence of where events occurred in Northern America that matched the events in the Book of Mormon. It was a great conference. This blog touches upon some of a panel discussing the signs of the times for the coming of Christ. This is a continuation of my notes.

Past, comet:

– Constellation Perseus depicts a father who is a son of a God, could be compared to Christ. He slays the monster medusa who has surfaced in her bare. Satan is known as the surface. I constellation is an eye, called algol. It is known as an evil star.
– Two great comets came to earth one in 1996 and the other in 1997. In the heavens. The first flew across the eye of Algol from the left and then exactly a year to the day. Later in 1997. A second, crossed the same algol star.
– DC 88:93, all the earth will see a comet.
– Joseph Smith on April 1843, said that Jerusalem must be rebuilt
– DC 88:, A, comet will come before Christ.

More notes coming in a future blog.

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Toastmaster clubs in other countries

Posted on July 25, 2015 by
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For one of my speeches in toastmasters, I had the chance to present how different clubs conduct their meetings in different countries.

– One club in Budapest, Hungary, communicated in English. They had a round Robin, where each member would tell a part of the same story or respond to the story.
– In Sydney, Australia, they had a top evaluator.
– For Salmiya Kuwait, they also did a round Robin and had a joke master.
– In London members would interject comments during different speeches.
– For Gurrea they gave an award to the individual who contributed the most to the club that evening.

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Spelling Tongue:

Posted on July 23, 2015 by
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Good: tongue
Bad: tonge

I always forge the u. doesn’t the u look like a tongUe sticking out? It odes thus I may remember tongUe.

Have an alternative suggestion? Please share it in the comment section of this blog.

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Queries:

Posted on July 22, 2015 by
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Here are more notes on a great panel at Life the Universe and Everything SF/F symposium. The topic is on Queries.

– Gather all the information you need on agents and your query is well phrased with your personality so that you can take away the stiffn3ss of an overly worked query because you want to create an emotional connection between the editor or agent with your letter. They want to determine if you are bankable.
– You want to create different lengths of the pitch. Go to add pitch on twitter. We have to do a pidgin hundred 40 characters. There’s also which madness on March 11. And that pitch is limited to 35
– Remember the three C’s under the pitch clarity, concise, compelling. It must have an emotional book in the longer pitch in these contain the hero. The goal of the book the obstacles and the consequences of failure. The consequences may be personal to the character. The one quote says death of a person is a tragedy of the death of a nation or world is a statistic.
– Look up Bloglines in Google. Also check scriptee.com
– You don’t need the name of the character. The magazine publishing house has good examples of concise examples of book outlines.
– Don’t like Pictures
– Look at the back cover copy of books that have been published to get examples of concise plot.
– You do tell how book ends in a pitch.

Have something to add? Please contribute to the comment second of the blog.

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Places for Rent suggestions:

Posted on July 21, 2015 by
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I have a friend who is looking for a new place to rent. Hummm what a great topic for our blog of lists? For your reading/ renting pleasure.

– Things to ask: if you are only there during the week, a small place might do just fine. If security is important, then a ground floor flat may be out. If you have a car, then a parking space is a must.
– make a to do list
– Google: Type in your city or county name with some characteristics you desire, such as “walkable,” “historic district” or “charming downtown.”
– Furnished or not?
– Craigslist & Newspapers — Housing Wanted, “apts / housing” section
– Find Realtors that Deal with Rentals
– Look for Houses That Are Not Selling
– Try Bing Maps’ Bird’s Eye View. Just type in the address, hit Aerial and then Bird’s eye for an overhead vista of the house and the neighborhood.
– pay for utilities or not
– schedule movers several weeks in advance and you can price shop
– search online for your city and the words “moderate income housing”
– check out membership mom groups will have an email loop that you can join before you move to your new city
– Tub, shower, shower attachment?
– In college or university in your city, Sabbatical Homes are temporarily vacated by college staff
– laundry facilities
– for a potential neighborhood, contact the citizens’ association to see if they can offer any advice on finding rentals in the area
– purge and donate old clothes, furniture, and accessories
– yard and/or garden area
– Interested in a house you found online, try checking out the neighborhood with Google Maps’ Street View.
– Location schools, stores, park public transportation?
– affordable rent more challenges because more people are renting rather than buying
– pack an overnight/ one weeks bag so you can live out of that while to settle in
– on lines ads may be more recent than newspapers ads
– Email everyone and ask about the city your moving to. Once you make the connections, ask what neighborhoods they like best
– Share accommodations with/without landlord?

Rent sites:
Apartments.com: type in the maximum rent you want to pay
apartmentguide.com: by zip code
Homefinder: rentals, houses for sale, foreclosures.
Homes.com: Exactly what it sounds like, this will connect you to local listings.
Hotpads: interactive map to find a new place.
I Am Moving: take care of letting over 1,500 organizations know where you’re going
MovingScam.com: lists reputable movers in your area.
NeighborhoodScout.com: Learn tab and get all sorts of details about a neighborhood
Padmapper: interactive map to pinpoint all of the rentals
People With Pets: A resource for people who are looking for pet-friendly new homes.
Sociallisting: taps into your own friends via your social networks
Realtor.com: Operated by the official National Association of Realtors, this site is legit.
Rent Jungle: choose features you can’t live without, like a fireplace or hardwood floors,
rentals.com; by zip code
StreetEasy: only in certain metro areas
Trulia: houses, apartments, local realtors.
Zillow: real estate network on the web

Sources:
http://www.claritas.com/MyBestSegments/Default.jsp?ID=20&SubID=&pageName=ZIP%2BCode%2BLook-up

14 Tips for Finding the Best Neighborhood


http://www.marketwatch.com/story/six-tips-to-finding-the-best-deals-on-rent-2011-05-04
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/28/best-websites-for-rentals-homes_n_3823865.html
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/resources/property-guides/renting-guide/find-a-place.html

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Only a matter of time:

Posted on July 20, 2015 by
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I recently attended a Book of Mormon evidence conference. I listened to a number of panels that gave archaeological evidence of where evemts occurred in Northern America that matched the Book of Mormon. It was a great conference. This blog touches upon some of a panel discussing the signs of the times for the coming of Christ.

– You can respond to signs of the times with fear of faith.
– Genesis 1:14 – 18. Let there be signs and seasons.
– Amos 5:87 stars, which is the palaces stars
– Psalms 147:4 call the stars mining.
– Isaiah 40:22. Spread the stars about 2 million.
– Psalms 8:3 – five moon and stars that have been ordained.
– Psalms 19:1 – four heavens declare the glory of God. Nowhere is his voice not heard.
– One star has the same name, known as Virgin in a tribal language as well as Hebrew. Certain constellations are no end how countries the world.
More will come next week.

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Clyde Bundy Presentation by biographer:

Posted on July 17, 2015 by
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Clyde Bundy is the rancher who paid taxes to NV State but not to the Federal Government. Feels he is following the constitution and that the BLM (Bureau of Land Management) is/was abusing their authority. These are notes from his biographer who wrote a book about the incident and gave a presentation at a conference I attended this year.

– Cycle Bundy called out for help on his cows being taken by government.
– Spread word of Clyde’s plights to media and friends
– Power of land management should be from the people to the state not government.
– The conflict is not about cows but constitution
– Feds snuck in took the cattle and sold them to auction (two decades ago)
– Auctioneer was told if you sell them, you’re out of business. He didn’t sale them.
– Bundy risked his livelihood for constitutional
– BLM vehicles came – told crowd to disperse, can’t take pictures,
– Forced one guy to ground. Shoved face into gravel.
– Article 3 section 1: discussed state rights
– BLM agent body slammed old woman/ cancer survivor who was yelling at BLM people.
– Amon got upset and confronted agent, he was tassered 3 times
– People came from around the United States to support the constitution.
– Author had attended restoring love gathering at Washington DC
– At one point at a separate confrontation BLM said they were going to shoot the people.
– Found huge pit where cows were killed and buried.
– Cycle was becoming a hero.
– Media made something up. Thus the black prejudice comments created by CNN
– Reports falsely said he did not pay his taxes, interviewed him

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Spelling Covenant:

Posted on July 16, 2015 by
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Good: Covenant
Bad: Convenant

I pronounce this word with an n. My frequent mispronouncing of words contributes to a lot of my misspelling. A convenient is a contract, a Vow to keep an agreement so I need to remember COVenant.

Have a better idea? Please share it in the comment section of this blog.

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Blowout Your Writing:

Posted on July 15, 2015 by
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Here are more notes on a great panel at Life the Universe and Everything SF/F symposium. The topic is on blowout your writing.

– How high is the priority of your writing of things in your life?
– You need to ask yourself what gets in the way of your writing.
– You need to discipline your divergence that can pull you away from writing.
– Some will create checklists for each chapter.
– Set specific goals that you can monitor and set specific goals, you’re more likely to succeed in your goals. Some will set a goal of certain allotment of time to write. Word count, or maybe write a chapter a night or in a week or perhaps a short story.
– Take advantage of being consistent. If you write a page a day you can have a 365 page book in a year.
– Some writers have to have a new chapter for their monthly writing group.
– Set a deadline you can hit.
– Another idea is to have certain numbers of days of the week they have to write or maybe for the weekend.
– When you reached a specific goal, consistently, you might increase it.
– Writing word count on the calendar can show your successes.
– Listen to your body. Find a comfortable place to work. Make sure you are fed and hydrated. Have a specific time and place to write. Write specific goals down and maybe even write extra words to create a buffer in case you have less time later in the week or month. Extra words can act as a buffer.
– If you work hours interfere with your best writing time that may be selected time during the weekend.
– You may have to give up something to devote more time to your goal of writing, if it is important to you.
– The people limited on writing and yet they have a good idea of what the story is going to go. They may write scenes of dialogue and then when they have more time, they can embellish those scenes with actions, and descriptions. Dialogue can be quick and easy to write.
– Have two different tools for writing wherever you are. You can use which ever tool is most convenient for you.
– When you start meeting the goals consider increasing your goals to make yourself stretch and accomplish even more. Some will turn on writing excuses to get them in the mood for writing
– Another idea for downtime is to research.
– Ideas by Melva: one idea is that you’d want to schedule time of play as reward to a writing goal. That might be given when achieve certain goals or just provide some downtime from writing. Some authors will actually take advantage of standing in a line or do a menial task or take a walk for brainstorming.

Have something to add to the list? Please do so in the comment section of this blog.

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