REMEMBER CELL PHONE NUMBERS GO PUBLIC THIS MONTH THEY ARE BEING RELEASED TO TELEMARKETING COMPANIES AND YOU WILL START TO RECEIVE CALLS,  YOU WILL BE CHARGED FOR THESE CALLS.

To keep this from happening, call this number from your cell phone: 888-382-1222.  It is the national do not call list.  It will only take a short time and it blocks your number for five years.  You need to call from the cell number that you want to block.  It will not work to call from another number.

Send this information to others, it takes about thirty seconds to block your number.  For more information go to www.donotcall.gov/default.aspx

8 Tips to Guide for Your Home Search

1. Research before you look. Decide what features you most want to have in a home, what neighborhoods you prefer, and how much you'd be willing to spend each month for housing.

2. Be realistic. It's OK to be picky, but don't be unrealistic with your expectations. There's no such thing as a perfect home. Use your list of priorities as a guide to evaluate each property.

3. Get your finances in order. Review your credit report and be sure you have enough money to cover your down payment and closing costs. Then, talk to a lender and get prequalified for a mortgage. This will save you the heartache later of falling in love with a house you can't afford.

4. Don't ask too many people for opinions. It will drive you crazy. Select one or two people to turn to if you feel you need a second opinion, but be ready to make the final decision on your own.

5. Decide your moving timeline. When is your lease up? Are you allowed to sublet? How tight is the rental market in your area? All of these factors will help you determine when you should move.

6. Think long term. Are you looking for a starter house with plans to move up in a few years, or do you hope to stay in this home for a longer period? This decision may dictate what type of home you'll buy as well as the type of mortgage terms that will best suit you.

7. Insist on a home inspection. If possible, get a warranty from the seller to cover defects for one year.

8. Get help from a REALTOR®. Hire a real estate professional who specializes in buyer representation. Unlike a listing agent, whose first duty is to the seller, a buyer's representative is working only for you. Buyer's reps are usually paid out of the seller's commission payment.

 

Dallas Chambers

RE/MAX Agents Realty

Office:  770-922-7777 X316

Cell:     770-595-1541

Web:  http://dallaschambers.agentsrealty.com

E-Mail:  dallasc@remax.net

Each Office Independently Owned and Operated.  All information deemed reliable but not guaranteed.

Tending a garden is a favorite hobby for many people, not only for the relaxation, but for the tasty harvest in due season. Tomatoes are a versatile plant with many varieties to sample and are one of the easiest garden treats to grow. Whether you opt for starting your plants from scratch with the seedlings or buying your plants in a semi mature stage, tomato gardens don't ask for much: just a little sunlight, water and TLC. And to help you get started and give your plants a boost, try these 10 easy tips to help your garden thrive.

1. To increase your garden results, choose locally approved varieties of tomatoes that contain VFN on the package. This variety helps to protect your vines from major plant diseases and nematodes.

2. Plant your tomatoes in the sunlight and avoid fully or partially shaded areas. Outdoor lighting is the best, however, indoor plants do well will special horticultural lighting systems installed over head, directly striking the plants.

3. Use stakes or caging to keep your tomatoes off the ground. In addition, tomatoes planted in windy climates may need to have a windbreak shield to guard them from high speed gusts. If you are using a cage, attach the windbreak to keep the container in an upright postion.

4. Keep your tomato plants well hydrated, especially in hot water. Every tomato could use a good soaking on a regular basis. Home kits for drip irrigation are easy to install or choose a soaker hose for a deep hydration of the soil. And if you choose not to invest in automation, the good old garden hose will do.

5. Add fertilizer or compost to keep your soil moist for maximum water intake to the plant. However, if you have just transplanted your tomatoes, give them two weeks to settle in before adding a mulch.

6. Estimate your garden space and choose between the determinate and indeterminate tomato vines. The former grows to a fixed length and works well with smaller spaces, and the latter will continue to spread beyond the boundaries you have set for your garden.

7. When planting seedlings, be sure to leave ample room for the tomatoes to grow. Cramped quarters will cause some of the vines to choke and block the mandatory sunlight for others to thrive.

8. Prune the under lying leaves away, especially the discolored ones that are showing signs of disease. Infections will spread quickly and can destroy the bulk of your harvest. In addition, to protect the healthy vine, its best to use clippers rather than plucking the dead leaves.

9. When transplanting a tomato, be sure to submerge the plant three quarters into the ground. The depth will allow the plant to adapt quickly to its new environment and sprout its new roots.

10. Plant your tomatoes after the last cold snap of the year. Frost can do great damage to any young plant, and the tomatoes are highly susceptible. If your tomatoes were planted in the spring, you should be able to harvest from the same vines for the entire season.

Joe Cline writes articles for Austin Texas real estate. Other articles written by the author related to Austin real estate and Round Rock real estate can be found on the net.

Insulation, to be effective, has to cover every square inch of exterior-to-interior space.

Heat seeks cold.  And insulation traps air.  If insulation is not trapping air in a space where heat can move toward cold, it will do just that.

On pre-drywall inspections, which are best done AFTER the insulation has been installed, I always look at how the carefully the insulation has been applied.  Behind the bath tubs, does it extend all the way to the floor?  Under fireplaces and bay windows, does it completely fill the cavity and does the paper backing touch the sub floor above?  Are exterior gaps sealed with caulking or foam?  If not, I note it and the buyers will bring it up on their builder walk through.

Here is something I see a lot.

This is the basement room under a rear sun room.  That window is on an exterior wall 12' wide. 

Just above the window you see the outer-most floor joist.  Hard to tell from this view is that there is a space between it and the rim joist (also called frieze board) on the exterior of the house.  See the holes in the joist?  That space has been used for wiring.  It is 8" deep.

Well, 12'x8" is about 8 cubic feet.  Do they intend to insulate that space? Not doing so is the equivalent of not insulating an exterior wall between about three 8' high studs.

There are three such spaces in this particular basement.  Taken together they represent a 9' wide wall without insulation.  Do you think that not insulating a 9' wide wall would influence the HVAC environment in a room?  Depending on which wall isn't insulated, it could influence an entire floor!  Additionally, it creates a space ripe for the amplification of microbial growth (molds) which nobody wants.

There are various ways these spaces can be insulated - blown-in cellulose or Icynene - and it needs to be done!

My recommendation:  On pre-drywall inspections, insist that they be done AFTER the insulation is completed.  Check carefully.  You might find spots that were not done!

 

 

Buyers Should Consider Prepaying Mortgage

Should home buyers with sufficient cash pay down their mortgages or put the extra money in investments or savings?

Financial experts say the choice depends on the home buyer's employment prospects, current savings, and investable assets.

If life looks a little uncertain, they advise putting the money in a safe place, like a savings account. But for people with more stable financial situations, paying down the mortgage can be a great investment, often providing a better return than a savings account.

Source: Washington Post, Ilyce R. Glink and Samuel J. Tamkin (02/27/2010

Despite blizzards and bad weather in January and early February in large portions of the country, the Fed's regional banks found consumer spending and manufacturing output increasing.

	Paul F. Stillwaggon NJ Estates Real Estate Group March 2010 LINKING THE LATEST TECHNOLOGY TO OLD FASHIONED SERVICE Copyright © 2010 Realty Times All Rights Reserved.

If you're trying to figure out where real estate is headed in the coming months, should you listen to the Federal Reserve -- or do you focus on the latest pending home sales numbers?

Probably both, but here's a key fact: The Fed's latest "Beige Book" report -- based on economic data from each of its 12 regional member banks -- found positive signs in nine of the 12 regions it covered.

Despite blizzards and bad weather in January and early February in large portions of the country, the Fed's regional banks found consumer spending and manufacturing output increasing.

Both are key indicators of improving economic conditions ahead, especially consumer spending, which accounts for 70 percent of U.S. economic activity and directly affects employment growth.

In fact, according to a separate report issued by the Commerce Department last week, consumer spending increased by one half of one percent in January - outpacing income growth for the fourth straight month.

What does that signify? Consumers are slowly coming out of their shells, regaining confidence, and beginning to feel good again about buying more goods and services.

On the housing front, the National Association of Realtors reported last week that the severe weather that paralyzed entire sections of the country also put a damper on home shopping last month - knocking down pending home sales by 7.6 percent in the process.

Nonetheless, said Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the Realtors, pending home sales - signed contracts that have not yet gone to closing -- still came in 12 percent higher in January than they were the year before.

Plus, they are likely to bounce back strongly in the next couple of months as buyers rush to sign contracts to qualify for the expiring home purchase tax credits.

Even home prices nationally are showing hints of slow improvement. According to the latest Clear Capital price index, which is based on information from thousands of neighborhoods and Zip code-level reports, prices rose by 5 percent on average for the most recent quarter on a year-over-year basis.

Metropolitan Boston, which was one of the earliest markets to signal the price downturns following the boom, saw values up by nearly seven percent, year over year, according to Clear Capital' index.

All of this is being helped along by continuing favorable financing conditions in the mortgage markets. Applications for new mortgages to purchase houses in the coming several months were up by 12 percent last week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Thirty year fixed rate loans dipped to 4.9 percent, while 15 year fixed rate were flat at 4.3 percent.


Written by Kenneth R. Harney
March 8, 2010 

 

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Weichert Realtors
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Paul (Direct) 908.561.5492 (Cell) 908.310.1358     

MAKE NECESSARY REPAIRS.

Of all the things homeowners control when selling their home, the condition of the property is the most important. There are probably some problems in your home that you have become used to. Attend to them now. A serious prospect will likely have a professional home inspection. Making repairs beforehand will leave less for the prospect's inspector to find.

 

Repair all items that fall into the following 5 categories:

1. Any major defect such as a structural problem.

2. Small defects that lead to major defects such as a small roof flashing leak.

3. Items that may hinder your buyer's ability to finance, legally occupy, or insure the property.

4. Any safety hazard such as a missing hole covers at the electrical panel.

5. Minor items noticeable to prospects such as a leaking faucet.

 

Tip: Save repair receipts for tax purposes and for inclusion in your promotional packets.

 

 

 

DON'T MAKE REPAIRS YOURSELF IF YOU ARE NOT QUALIFIED.

·  Your prospects or their inspectors may recognize sub-standard work.

·  Doing it yourself may take too long.

·  You could create a safety hazard.

·  The value of your own labor is not tax deductible.

·  You will be blamed for faulty repairs discovered later

      Home Inspections Since 1997

     30 years experience in home renovation and general contracting

     15 years experience as a real estate investor and in marketing

 

Affordable Home Inspections          905-730-9300        www.affordablehomeinspections.ca

It is common to find significant water damage near the tub or the shower. This is often the result of water that is leaking out around a shower door or a curtain. Or, in some cases, the shower door, often a slider, is installed in such a manner that the shower water runs down the track and right into the wall. That can make for a huge mess. Sometimes, for an inspector to locate moisture issues, a moisture meter is required. There are other times (below) when a meter is hardly necessary.

Thanks for stopping by,

Steven L. Smith

How to Choose Paint Colors to Sell Your San Francisco Real Estate

When you're ready to sell your San Francisco property, you want to make sure it's attractive to potential buyers. A fresh coat of paint can do wonders for your home, but with all the paint colors available to you, you may wonder which colors are best.

There are two primary things to consider:

•1.      Function. What is the room primarily used for? Some rooms are easy to label. After all, there are only one or two uses for the kitchen or bathroom. But what about great rooms or family rooms?  Rooms like that are most often used for relaxation and recovery from a busy day, and, therefore, should be painted in soothing shades of blue or green. Busier rooms, like the kitchen, can handle stronger colors like red, orange, or bright yellow.

 

•2.      Size. Generally, the smaller the room the lighter the wall color. Lighter colors make rooms look bigger, while darker colors make rooms look smaller. Your bathrooms and smaller bedrooms will mostly likely look better with a lighter shade than your living room or family room. Since colors are part of a spectrum, you can find a shade of any color that will work for you.

Buyers like to picture themselves living in their San Francisco home before they buy it. This is why you should stick to neutral colors throughout your home.  As your buyers walk through, they can imagine their own furniture and art and belongings up against a white or cream colored wall. It's a little trickier to do this when the walls are bright orange.

Don't overlook the power of a new paint job. Let us help you prepare your San Francisco home or condo for a fast sale. Call Patten and Monfredini today at 415-345-3133 or email us at lmonfredini@pacunion.com

Keyword/Tag: San Francisco real estate

Links:

 

Paint colors

http://www.sherwin-williams.com/do_it_yourself/paint_colors/

 

Soothing shades

http://www.demesne.info/Improve-Your-Home/Choosing-Interior-Color.htm

 

the smaller the room the lighter the wall color

http://ezinearticles.com/?The-Best-Paint-Colors-For-Small-Rooms&id=673843

Did you catch Gary Keller, author of “Shift: How Top Real Estate Agents Tackle Tough Times” and Chairman of Keller Williams Realty on ABC’s Good Morning America last week discussing how to sell a home in a buyer’s market?

His most publicized quote from this interview (which has set Stager Blogs around the nation afire) is as follows:

“Price gets you interest. Staging it gets you offers!”

Keller hit on a point that I often emphasize with my Los Angeles Home Staging clients. Right now we’re in a buyer’s market, and you’re kidding yourself if you think your buyers aren’t well aware of that fact!

Unless you create a sense of urgency for buyers to make an offer, they are likely to sit back and wait for your first (or second, or third) price reduction!

So how do you create a sense of urgency?

Read on to find out!

 

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Annie Pinsker-Brown | Stage to Sell
Owner & Principal Designer
310-384-1084
www.stagetosell.biz

"We get you to SOLD so you can get on with your life!"

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Stage to Sell is the premier West Los Angeles Home Staging Company.

Owner & Principal Designer Annie Pinsker-Brown is an ASP Home Stager, a member of IAHSP (International Association of Home Staging Professionals), an affiliate member of the Beverly Hills/Greater Los Angeles Association of Realtors and a member of the Culver City and West LA Chambers of Commerce.

Annie has Staged LA homes for Bravo's hit show "Million Dollar Listing" and TLC's "Property Ladder." She has also been featured in recent articles on Home Staging in Los Angeles Magazine, The New York Times , Costco Connection and Frontiers Magazine .

If you would like to see more of our Home Staging work, visit our website . There is an extensive gallery of before & after photos , as well as a list of our Staged properties currently on the market.

 

Ok, so the photo might look like it came from a faded menu but these are really good. They take about 30 minutes from start to table and can be a meal in themselves or used as a side dish.

Ingredients:

1 medium baking potato or 2-3 Yukon Gold potatoes

1 8"-9" yellow squash, zucchini or crook-neck are good

1 small onion

1 egg

3 Tbsp flour (whole wheat preferred)

Pepper

Garlic Powder

Salt (or salt substitute)

Oil or vegetable spray (PAM)

 

Putting it together:

Grate potato, squash and onion into a bowl. You can use a hand grater or a food processor. I like to use a mix of fine and coarse grated veggies.

Add egg, flour and seasonings (to taste). Mix well.

Heat oil, we prefer a blend of canola and olive oil, or vegetable spray in a frying pan or on a griddle using a medium high temperature. Place  serving spoon sized dollops of the mixture onto the pan and flatten. Brown the pancakes on each side until heated through. About 4-5 minutes or so per side Place on a paper towel to remove any oil if used.

Serve:

Tasty on their own, but you can add additional salt and pepper, sugar, parmesan cheese (we like that) applesauce or sour cream to taste.

Makes about  7 - 9 4"-5" pancakes.

Selling a home can be challenging and time consuming for a seller. In today's market, you must use "every trick in the book" in order to make your home appealing to the greatest number of buyers.

Here are some handy staging tips that will help you prepare your home for selling...

Get ready to move... Start packing!
Before you show your home to any potential buyer be sure to go through your whole house with your agent to finish the Staging process. Meanwhile, here are some quick tips to help you start. Follow these general tips and your home will look better than the competition. Staged Homes sell faster and/or for more money!

INSIDE
• Clear all unnecessary objects from furniture throughout the house. Keep decorative objects on the furniture restricted to groups of 1, 3, or 5 items. In general, a sparsely decorated home helps the buyer mentally „move in? with their own things.

• Rearrange or remove some of the furniture in your home, if necessary. Many times home owners have too much furniture in a room. When it comes to selling your home, thin out overcrowded rooms to make the rooms appear larger.

• Clear all unnecessary objects from the kitchen countertops. If it hasn't been used for three months... put it away! Clear refrigerator fronts of messages, magnets, pictures, etc.

• In the bathroom, remove any unnecessary items from the countertops, tub, shower stall and commode top. Keep only the most necessary cosmetics, brushes, perfumes, etc., in one small group on the counter. Coordinate towels in one or two colors only.

• Take down, reduce, or rearrange pictures and objects on walls. Patch and paint all walls, if necessary.

• Review the house interior, room by room, and:

1. Paint any room needing paint.
2. Clean carpet and draperies that need it.
3. Clean windows.

· If you need room to store extra possessions use the garage or rent a storage unit.

• Leave on certain lights during the day (your agent will show you which ones). During showings turn on ALL lights and lamps.

• Play light FM music every day in the house, for all viewings.

OUTSIDE

• Go around the perimeter of the house and move all garbage cans, discarded wood scraps, extra building materials, etc., to the garage or, if applicable, take them to the dump.

• Check gutters and roof for dry rot and moss. Make sure they are swept & cleaned.

• Look at all plants. Plants are like children ~ they grow so fast. Prune bushes and trees. Keep plants from blocking windows: "You can?t sell a house if you can?t see it!"

• Remove any dead plants, weed all planting areas and put down fresh mulching material.

• Keep your lawn freshly cut, edged and fertilized during the growing season.

• Clear patios or decks of all small items, such as little planters, flower pots, charcoal, barbeques, toys, etc.

• Check the condition of the paint on your home, especially the trim and the front door. The first impression, or "curb appeal,? is very important.

IN GENERAL
Try to look at your house "through a buyer?s eyes," as though you?ve never seen it before. This exercise will help you see what needs to be done. Any time and money invested on these items will usually bring you the return of more money and a quicker sale.

Visit my website for more helpful Home Seller Tips.

Even though it sure does not feel like it, Spring is right around the corner!  Now is the time to clean out closets, trim the bushes, and get your home looking in tip-top condition for the rest of the year.  Here are a list of commonly overlooked tips on keeping your home safe and in great condition.  Most of the country has experienced a very harsh winter when compared to previous years, so some of these tips can be very important depending on the region of the country you live in.

1. Replace your HVAC Filter
2. Check and clean the kitchen exhaust hood and air filter
3. Make sure a fire extinguisher is easily accessible on all levels of your home
4. Check that light bulbs are the correct wattage in each lamp and fixture
5. Review fire escape plan with your family
6. Make sure all of your TV's, computers, and other electrical equipment is protected by a surge protector
7. Have a professional HVAC technician service and inspect your AC systems
8. Check roof for damaged or loose shingles
9. Check all fascia and trim for wood rot and deterioration
10. Check water heater for leaks
11. Check all water shutoff valves for leaks and performance
12. Clean clothes dryer exhaust duct and machine for lint buildup
13. Inspect and vacuum all smoke alarms
14. Check structural integrity of your deck.  Look for loose joints and structural problems
15. Check for loose or leaky gutters.  Time to get rid of all of those leaves

 

                           

Jennifer K Giraldi, REALTOR®    Solid Source Realty Atlanta     678-469-9519    Atlanta Real Estate   

NOTE: I spend my Wednesdays Unplugged from appointments. It's my day to stay home, enjoy cooking and welcome our kids and grandkids for dinner in the evening. We end our meal with quotes from the Norwegian 'Quote Cup' passed on to me from my grandmother. I share a quote and a recipe here each week, and sometimes some photos of family fun. I love trying new recipes...and love getting recipes you would like to share!

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

"What a wonderful life I've had. I only wish I'd realized it sooner." ~ Colette

 

We had grandkids sleep over last weekend and they wanted to make chocolate chip cookies... they helped both bake and eat them! When I printed out the recipe for baked cinnamon circle French toast from a blog post for breakfast our grandson recognized the photo of our 'quote cup' right away. I would guess that carved wooden vessel that came from Norway as a gift to my grandmother more than a half century ago will hold special meaning and memories for our children and grandchildren... we are now into our fourth year of pulling weekly quotes from it to share.

RECIPE OF THE WEEK

This week's recipe comes from Lunds and Byerly's... seems appropriate to use one of their recipes this week, as 'our' nearby Byerly's celebrates its grand opening after a major remodel. I would hardly call this chili, it's very mild and seems more like a hearty soup, but it combines two Minnesota favorites, wild rice and turkey. Great lunch leftovers!

MINNESOTA STYLE CHILI

• 1 cup chopped onion
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 3 cups cooked, cubed turkey
• 2 cups cooked wild rice
• 1 (48 ounce) package chicken broth
• 1 (19 ounce) can cannellini beans, drained
• 1 (9 ounce) package frozen shoe-peg white corn
• 2 (4 ounce) cans diced green chiles, undrained
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
• 1/8 teaspoon Tabasco
• 1 (8 ounce) package 4 cheese Mexican blend shredded cheese

In large Dutch oven, saute onion and garlic in oil until onion is tender. Stir in turkey, wild rice, chicken broth, beans, corn, green chilies and cumin.

Simmer, covered, over medium heat for 30 minutes. Stir in cilantro and Tabasco. Ladle into bowls; sprinkle with cheese.

Sharlene Hensrud, RE/MAX Results - Email - HomesMSP.com

RELATED POSTS

• Sunday's Site - Byerly's...not your ordinary corner grocery
• Wednesdays Unplugged - Vegetable Chili
• Wednesdays Unplugged - Oven Baked French Toast

 

 

 

 As a former Social Worker I am reminded of Elizabeth Kubler-Ross book "On Death and Dying' and the five stages a terminally ill patient goes through when informed of their life threatening illness.

The five stages she identifies in her book are:

• Denial ( this isn't happening to me!)
• Anger( why is this happening to me?)
• Bargaining ( I promise I'll be better person if...)
• Depression ( I don't care anymore)
• Acceptance ( I'm ready for whatever comes)

As I reviewed these five stages and relate them to Sellers I have worked with or am currently working with I am drawn to how these same stages are exactly what sellers go through when selling their home in a short sale.

Stage 1 Denial:

Many sellers who are falling behind in their mortgage payment often do not get help or seek help because they are in total denial. They often think nothing is going to happen to them even after the bank has sent them the Notice of Default letter.

Stage 2 Anger:

This is a very difficult stage. Many homeowners remain angry through the Short Sale/Foreclosure process. Reports of homes being trashed and appliances missing are usually the signs of people who have a lot of anger and direct this anger onto the property.

Stage 3 Bargaining:

This is the stage where sellers exhibit a lot of ambivalence. They do not want to loose their home and will do almost anything to keep it. Some sellers will contact their lenders and try to negotiate a loan modification while you are doing a short sale. You have to be aware of your seller in this stage because they are very vulnarble and will sabotage any efforts you have initiated because they have not truly accepted the need to sell their home.

Stage 4: Depression:

Sellers in this stage just stop caring about the house and will withdraw from you as their agent. It is important to maintain contact with your sellers during this stage and give them support and assure them that what they are doing is in their best interest.

Stage 5 Acceptance:

This is when you see your seller come out of their shell and begin to prepare for a life after the Short Sale.

INSPIRATION FOR TODAY:"It does not take much strength to do things, but it requires great strength to decide on what to do."

~ Elbert Hubbard

THROW AWAY THE BAND-AIDS!

What do Scotch Tape, Post-It Notes, and paper clips have in common? Each apparently has a different function, is made of a different material, and serves its own purpose. Oh sure, you can say they're all office supplies - and you'd be right - but look a little deeper for their common purpose.

Scotch Tape pieces are placed along the edges and on the ends of holiday gifts - for a short period of time. Post-It Notes are stuck to documents suggesting that a signature is needed, or some action be taken. Once the action is complete, the note is discarded. Paper clips hold two or more things together for a few hours or days, and are then returned to the desk drawer.

Figured it out yet? They are all just a temporary "fix" - a momentary solution to a temporary need. They are used in "reaction" to a short-term need. They are also similar to our daily personal lives. When feelings are hurt and the tears come, we automatically reach for a Kleenex. We might, on the other hand, have taken time to determine the source of those feelings and concentrated on resolving a difference before tears were necessary.

When our children misbehave, we react with a 15-minute (or 3-day) "time-out." We might have avoided that temporary fix by listening to their concerns and teaching appropriate behavior before the fact. Then, there are all the excuses we make, used like Band-Aids, to temporarily cover the flaws in our own behavior. Wouldn't a more permanent solution like performing to expectations, learning from past experience, or practicing excellence be more appropriate?

Yes, we live in a very fast-paced world. Quick solutions are the order of the day, yet we must eventually realize that we continually seem to need a fresh supply of Scotch Tape, Kleenex, or paper clips. By taking more time to look ahead, it is possible to eliminate many of the situations that require those one-minute Band-Aids. Avoid future "boo-boos." Search for, learn, and practice a more permanent and proactive life. That's right - "No more tears!"