Bridling our impulses:

Posted on August 10, 2014 by
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When we respond to a given circumstance by blind impulse, our hungers can control our lives over our minds. I hope today’s lesson can be of use to youth ministries, family devotionals, family counselors and home evening groups. I would like to discuss the advantages of us bridling our impulses.

It’s easy to want to yell at someone who is yelling at us. The manner we respond to an impulse is a great way to determine who or what is control of our life. For some of us, it might be the affection for food that makes us overweight. For others it might be the obsession of money that becomes more important than integrity and honor in business. Many of us often live our lives to the satisfaction of the moment rather than the long-term. There are advantages for us to manage our impulses and thus avoid potential negative consequences.

Object lesson: Place the lip of a rubber hose over the mouth of a faucet. If you don’t have a rubber hose, cut the opposite, end of a long balloon and put the mouth over the mouth of faucet and let the loose end hang in the sink. Turn the water at a high volume, and you will most likely spray water everywhere in the kitchen because the hose is unrestrained. This could be compared as not restraining our impulses. We can douse the kitchen because we don’t control the end of the tube while the water is on.

There are advantages to restraining our impulses.

Responding to provocation may make us vulnerable to manipulation. Our tendency for us to succumb to our desires with no restraint results in our hungers controlling us rather than our minds. This might be a good time to talk about how drugs, smoking, or pornography, etc. can easily manipulate our lives.

As a family or class, discuss various impulses of the body, spirit, the mind and emotional impulses. Maybe discuss advantages and disadvantages of showing restraint and control.

Another way to illustrate control is restraining our temporary pleasure and site of the long-term goals. For example, by saving a little money each week that little bit of money builds up where we may have the necessary funds to buy something more significant.

There are multiple advantages for controlling our impulses.

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Family Rights Caucus web site:

Posted on August 10, 2014 by
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Today is just an encouragement to check out this web site

UNFamilyRightsCaucus.org

Check it out.

Have other web sites that achieve a similar purpose, please feel free to share.

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Spelling Specialty:

Posted on August 7, 2014 by
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Bad: Speciality

Good: Specialty

I seem to always want to put an extra I into speciality. But if I have the second I the first I is no longer feeling special it has a partner. To make the I to have specIalty than don’t add the second I.

Have another way to remember the correct spelling, plese share in the comment section of the blog. Thanks.

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Queries:

Posted on August 6, 2014 by
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While I was at Life the Universe and Everything this year I took some great notes on a panel about queries. I hope the info can be of interest.

–          Requested information: is what you put in the subject of an email in response to an agent asking for a synopsis of chapters.

–          Query is what you put in the subject of an email. We do the query.

–          Don’t wear can tell your book is completed.

–          If an agent/publisher, ask for your book respond within 24 hours.

–          Have a synopsis rate to go before has to be asked for.

–          Query shark is a website that can help keep track of agents and queries.

–          Queries us on yourself.

–          Researcher agents and the small presses and publishers.

–          Get PDF file: from the query to the call.

–          Thank an agent/publisher for asking for your material.

–          If you don’t address your query by specific name or know what you looking for your wasted your time.

–          Go to conferences and pitch to agents.

–          There are three parts to a query: 1. The snippet about the book and word count, 2. Is about the main plot that is not included the subplots. Gives chief plot, protagonist, antagonist and does not in the subplots. Do not give away the ending.  3. The third paragraph is a brief bio was in your credentials. If you haven’t published and maybe share your social networking success. If you have a lot of followers in your social media indicated.

–          Draft different pitches that can be used, and scenarios.

–          Establish a brand online.

–          Look at the book you love to read and written acknowledgment page to find the editor. That it may be for you want to submit to

–          Your queries need to grab them. The first 15 seconds

–          agent query.com

–          Include a synopsis in the first chapter at the bottom of the email. Never do attachments.

–          Agents/publishers want to know that you know how to sell yourself.

–          Don’t start you query with the question. Tell your friend a brief synopsis of your story and had the repeated back to you to see what they found to be important or memorable.

–          Economy of phrasing is key.

–          You only as famous and popular as people think you are use more evocative words that have punch.

–          Match mood of your query to the mood of the book.

–          Focus on every single sentence. Have each word count and serve multi-purposes.

–          Get a professional proofreader editor for your manuscript.

–          The query will need to motivate the reader to think I want to read this book.

–          Read comments in query shark

–          on books that have a series state “standalone with series potential”.

–          Characters, conflict and the choices they have, to make an resulting consequences to the plot. Character, conflict, consequences, consistency. Limit your query to force it on each of these topics, and then expand

–          Query should be under 250 words

–          to establish writing credentials, and a contest.

–          Show that you have successful blog in your bio

–          publishers marketplace offers first five days free. Gives of subscriber a chance to copy and paste the list and then unsubscribe

–          literary rambles: gives a list of specific agents and create links and articles to that agency doing about them. It gives you a chance to know and mass personalities of you to the agent.

–          Before accepting an agents offer talk to the clients of that agent. Don’t be afraid to join an agents blog and comment with them

Have suggestions to add to the list, please add them in the comment section of this blog. Thanks

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Tax liens and deeds:

Posted on August 5, 2014 by
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Last fall I attend a financial workshop and learned some great stuff. Here are some of my notes on tax liens and deeds.

–          exist in all states and territories

–          tax liens is low risk and high returns.

–          An average return might be 14%

–          offer good financial liquidity: investment turnaround about nine months or money for year

–          tax liens are independent from the FDIC

–          misconception: founded by property tax revenue.

–          Liens is investing in people’s taxes due on properties.

–                          Returns are mandated by state law.

–                          Home can be influenced by federal laws.

–          Actual taxing properties:

–                          represents homes where the owner has a pay the taxes yet.

–                          Homeowner has to pay taxes if they don’t than the ownership of the home can go to the lead owner. First mortgages dropped you get access over mortgage companies.

–          The house acts as collateral for my loan.

Have something to add to the list? Please put additional ideas in the comment section of this blog.

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Reputation is like milk:

Posted on August 4, 2014 by
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Hope the felling object lesson can be of use to youth ministries, family counselors, family devotionals and home evenings.

Cup of milk with two tablespoons of white vinegar:

Reputation could be compared to a nice cup of milk. A lot of times we may not know if we can trust someone and tell we have known them for a long time. Each of us gains a reputation by our actions and words.

Some people will try to hide the type of person they with false behavior. But time will eventually reveal the kind of person they are. Take a sip of the milk and you will taste of vinegar of a person who cannot be trusted. Or you can drink milk and taste of your flavor of the creamy substance and know that the positive reputation you see is authentic.

If you have ideas to contribute to this topic, feel free to share it in the comment section this blog

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A deeper meaning behind a story:

Posted on August 2, 2014 by
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While at a leadership training today, I heard a story teller, Carol, tell a series of stories. One I found to be of quite thought provoking. The virtue of a good story is not just entertainment but to also maybe broaden a listener’s perspective on other topics outside of the story.

The story told of a village that lived near a high cliff where many people had been killed.

The villagers debated if they needed to spend money building a fence on the cliff to prevent people from falling off the cliff or to have an ambulance service down in the valley to take care of people after they fell.

It was finally decided to pay money for the ambulance service.

One of the reasons I liked the story is it gave me a new perspective on a modern issue today. Why are so many US citizens so intent to have a fence built on the southern border to prevent illegal alien from crossing rather than taking care of the new arrivals after they’ve come in.

With this story I compared illegally crossing the border to the fence on the cliff. It would be better to prevent innocents from falling over the cliff. Some type of border defense would discourage illegals from paying drug cartels to get across the border where children are abused and families are financially obligated to the crime lords. It could also discourage the stealing of identities to create a false persona for illegals to live within the United States. Finally illegals would not have to live lives of secrecy. An alternative is lawful immigration into the US where new citizens join their new country freely and fairly.

The story could be used to support other concepts as well but this was one that first interpretation that came to mind for me.

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Spelling Ambitious:

Posted on July 31, 2014 by
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Bad: ambicious

Good: ambitious fellow.

Okay this might be a way to remember the word bit in amBITious.  One may be considered ambitious by accomplishing large goals. People accomplish large goals by achieving many smaller goals. BIT by BIT we work the little things until something major is achieved. We may then be seen as being quite amBITious.

We’ll see it that will help me remember this word. Have a better idea? Please share in the comment section of this blog. Thanks.

 

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Effective book covers:

Posted on July 30, 2014 by
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This panel is especially useful for authors who want to self-publish, as they may be more likely to have more control over their covers. I need to keep these things in mind if I commission future covers.

–          Have a scene that has action.

–          Purpose of the covers to sell a book.

–          But Mr. represent what is inside the book. Otherwise the reader feels cheated.

–          Publishers follow trends in covers and will sometimes put new covers on the book to keep it fresh and to sell continuously.

–          If an author does not have our history does not understand the terms of art they should rely more heavily upon the decisions of the artist to determine a cover which includes contrast, colors, attraction and tone.

–          Covers act as a logo/brand of the book.

–          You want to cover to generate an emotional response.

–          One source of covers is ICANN photos

–          traditional publishers also use stock photos.

–          Can be used to everybody.

–          There were things you can do to alter and change the appearance of a stock photograph.

–          Go to Amazon and look at books that are like yours and see what their covers look like.

–          Look at the bestsellers and see what colors they are using, and what type of topology fantasy print of characters.

–          Don’t put written by as is obvious to the authors.

–          Contract what does it cover. Read it

–          artists need to  page count and size of the book need to be known for the artist to make the cover, especially when it comes to wraparound

–          e-book dimensions require a lower resolution.

–          As for print size, resolution of cover with e-book.

–          Type or weight of paper influences covers.

–          Work for hire may cost more, but is where the author has all rights to art.

–          By default, a cover art is the property of the artist.

–          Contract: right up an agreement between artist and author.

–          Have height, resolution and apology fantasy text(on book)

–          be aware of photo and text interaction.

–          Contrast: light showing up from below on a guy may indicate mystery rather than romance.

–          Think us symbolism of the book.

–          Be aware of your audience. A ballerina on a cover will make the reader think it’s about dancing rather than a middle grade character struggling with a handicap which was what the book is really about.

If you have ideas to share on this topic, please feel free to provide them in the comment section of this blog.

Plot: pitcher book The small small world of Alfred Doodle. Childish wrong and speeches the world of Annette commie. = I have no idea what I was trying to say here. Sometimes during a panel I will come up with a story/book idea and job it down. I’m including it to teach a lesson. The next time you write down an idea for a book, be more detailed than I did here.

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Residential Care Facilities details:

Posted on July 29, 2014 by
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–          Look up featured 5 star rcfe (residential care facilities).

–          Create your own facility rather than buy a used one is least expensive.

–          Pay people to own property.

–          Rate: is your return on a property or the yield.

–          Turnkey: means you want to manage the property.

–          Property that offers a guarantee of full occupancy usually means that there is a waiting list.

–          Caretaker’s license. Involves two weeks of training and teaches you about safety. Orderlies in hospitals using already have this certification.

–          Medicine is used in a locked closet.

–          Someone is always on site during the day.

–          Non-awake. Could be a manager who can sleep, and there’s usually an alarm system throughout the house.

–          One care facility has a sensor that monitors when people get out of bed and when they return to bed in 10 minutes. The attendant can check up on them.

–          Suggest you have a facility of 3000 ft.² or more

–          A full occupancy of five people usually provides $30,000 a month

–          safety regulations require that household members need the ability to exit the house within three minutes in case of fire. With residents that have difficulty in moving, then a speaker system needs to be installed for the protection.

–          A multilevel home is not usually good to have a secure facility unless you want to use the top level the place that the manager or caretaker can live.

–          You want to provide a desirable place to live. Because children want a place where their parent is in a safe, clean property that is comfortable.

–          Having a pool can give residents a chance to get Aqua exercise. If you hire someone to provide classes. You can charge $200 extra per resident

–          As you consider purchasing a property ask, is this somewhere, your parent would like to live. Upgrade the residents to a better place to live than their past location. Find a place that has a beautiful view, etc.

–          if it’s higher quality, can lease

–          average cost per resident in care facility is for the 6K a month.

–          Most care facilities may have six residents and then one manager.

–          Possible costs to manage a care facility

400 K down payment

other costs 6.5 K, which also includes insurance

staffing 7K

they can see 2.5 K

–          six times 5K equals 30 K of monthly income

–          you submit your menu to the government

–          always max expenses to maintain realistic costs

–          cost of fun feeding elderly is low because you can buy in bulk and cook in bulk, estimates a couple hundred dollars a month

–          you can use your 401(k) to finance it to location.

–          You can buy with lease option. You can buy a home at a set price up to a certain price for two years.

–          A gated neighborhood gives the perception of security.

–          What is the type of house you would want to live in? A 400 K house offers more quality than 300 K house.

–          You need at least one bathroom with a walk-in bathroom

–          these are good cash cows

Do you have observations to add to the list? Feel free to share them in the comment section of this blog.

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