Tours Travel

Success in goal setting: the day that will change your life

The day your life changes…

My wife, Aldona, and I were recently married. We both come from very nasty divorces and each of us received all the bills and all the debts from our marriages. Aldona was receiving no child support from her ex and 2/3 of our combined income went to my ex wife in the form of alimony, child support and her college education; things were very bad financially for us.

We lived in a 600 square foot shack that walking around passed 7 different types and colors of siding that had been put on it over the years. We had 1 piece of furniture to our name: a broken vinyl rocker. We had a card table and 4 chairs in the kitchen that my parents had lent us and a mattress on the bedroom floor to sleep on. Like I said, it was bad!

We had picked up my kids in Albuquerque for spring break and spent a miserable 5 days camping in sleet, rain and snow because that was all we could do with them. When that ordeal was finally over and we left them with my ex, we headed home to Denver, only to be caught in a snow storm in Santa Fe and the roads were closed. We knew we couldn’t spend the night in a tent and had to find a motel. We had $17 and some change and no credit. We drove up and down Cerrillos Road in Santa Fe trying to find a motel we could afford. It was incredibly embarrassing to walk in to ask how much a room was and then have to come back out because you couldn’t afford it.

We finally found “The Judy House”, complete with cockroaches and holes in the wall. Cold air was pouring in through the cracks around the window, and the room’s decrepit heater couldn’t handle it. After paying for the room, I had some coins left in my pocket. We had a little food left in the cooler, but nothing to drink. So I went out in the blizzard to the vending machine that was in front of this dump.

The least expensive drink in the machine was a coke for 50 cents. I didn’t have 50 cents! And that was back in the days when a 6-pack of cokes cost around 65 cents. He was outraged! I went back to the room annoyed and fuming… “What a scam!” … “Who do these people think they are charging such an outrageous price for a coke?! … “What absolute nerve of these people to be scamming the public in this way!”

I sat on the edge of the bed, practically crying over the “unfairness of life.” But finally I realized the reality of the situation. It wasn’t that it was too expensive, it was that he couldn’t afford it. In other words, it was my responsibility, not society, to fix my problem. That was the day that changed my life. I decided at that moment that I would do whatever it took to never find myself in a situation like that again. It was the beginning of my search for options and alternatives to working for someone else and letting them decide what I was worth.

That was the day the entrepreneurial spirit took hold of me and the start of our new beginnings. So where are you in your life right now? Is there something you can’t afford right now, that hurts so much that you’re willing to change it? How bad will it have to get before you do something different. Today would be a good day to decide!

Arts Entertainments

My husband can’t even keep eye contact with me after his affair

I often hear from wives who indicate that their husband has too many problems to deal with after he is caught cheating or having an affair. He is often embarrassed, embarrassed, nervous, uncomfortable, humiliated, or a combination of all of these things. Therefore, it can be quite difficult to deal with him after the affair, let alone to improve her problems or save her marriage.

I recently heard from a wife who said, “My husband didn’t admit to his affair with me. In fact, I told him my suspicions very frankly and he denied them with everything he had. In fact, he acted hurt, like he was horrified.” that he would suspect or accuse him of such a thing. Still, something told me that things were not right. I still suspected that he had cheated on me. So I hired a private investigator to follow him. And sure enough, the investigator quickly caught him cheating. Once they told me where he was, I waited for him and confronted him as soon as he came out with the other woman. Needless to say, I made a great scene. I know my husband was very embarrassed, but he totally deserved it. Since then, I’ve told him what a liar I think he is. Still, there is a small part of me deep down that doesn’t want to leave my marriage. I expected my husband to do it right away. apologize and beg for my forgiveness, but he hasn’t done that. in my eyes now. He avoids me. He cuts me off when I try to speak. He basically makes it clear that he’s not going to talk about it. How can we even begin to heal when he acts like this? And why is he acting this way in the first place?” I will try to answer these questions in the next article.

Sometimes her husband can’t look at her after the affair because he’s embarrassed, embarrassed, or not sure what to do or say: I didn’t get a chance to talk to the husband at this stage. But I have corresponded with many men in this situation on my blog. Many will tell you that they are embarrassed and embarrassed. They will also tell you that they don’t know what is the right thing to do or say and that they are afraid of their wife’s reaction. In this particular scenario, the husband was probably even more humiliated by his own behavior because he adamantly denied the affair in the first place.

This alone can make it quite difficult to look someone in the eye. It is important for wives in this situation to remember that they have done nothing wrong. He’s the one in the wrong, and frankly, his reluctance to look you in the face and make full eye contact is a good indication that he’s fully aware of it.

His inability to look you in the eye can be an indication of guilt or remorse, which can be a positive sign: Frankly, the fact that your husband can’t look you in the face or make full eye contact can sometimes be a good sign. Men who are outraged and deny that they did anything wrong or who blame their wives for their actions are more likely to repeat those actions because they almost feel justified in their cheating.

Conversely, a man who is so embarrassed or uncomfortable that he can’t look you in the eye may well be having the difficulties he is because he knows how badly he has messed things up. He is having the strong reaction that he has because he is very aware of the big mistake that he has made. And this makes it more likely that he won’t want to repeat the same actions because he doesn’t want to feel that way ever again.

How to handle it when your husband doesn’t look you in the eye after their affair: Although there may be valid reasons why your husband is having a hard time coming to terms with you, it can be very frustrating and may delay your healing if he does in fact have any interest in saving your marriage. So you might want to address this the next time it happens. A suggested script might be something like “could you look at me while we talk? We’re not going to make progress if you don’t even look me in the eye. I know it’s awkward for both of us, but in order for us to move forward, we’re going to need to be able to communicate and this includes making contact.” between us. I know this is awkward, but if you care about me and our marriage, I need you to do better. And you can start by looking at me when I’m talking to you.”

Hopefully, when he starts to see that making eye contact can be the start of making things better and that he needs to take responsibility for what he’s done and be man enough to handle the consequences of his own actions, he’ll see some improvements. . And some eye contact.

Technology

Ontario Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Program

Recycling waste materials like cars, cans, bottles, and paper has become big business over the years and is especially profitable when the materials are profitable to process and reuse. Cars and their parts are by far the most recycled items: new cars are 84% recycled material by weight, and the relative cost of recycling is low. There is an incentive for industry to help with recycling activities and this has come to fruition in Ontario with a long-awaited campaign to recycle old computers and the full range of electronic devices.

Ontario’s Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment program (which goes by the acronym WEEE) is a phased initiative that launched Phase 1 in April 2009 and established a network of 167 drop boxes for a specific list of devices: televisions, computers, printers , fax machines, monitors, drives, keyboards and mice. WEEE is an industry developed plan funded by manufacturers and importers of electronic products. The effort comes back to them in spades, as it will translate into higher sales when people have a convenient way to get rid of last year’s model.

An industry consortium, Electronics Product Stewardship Canada (EPSC) is working to ensure proper recycling standards and audits to ensure end-of-life electronics are managed in an environmentally sound manner. They strengthened the Recycling Vendor Qualification Program in 2006 to increase minimum recycling requirements and limit the amount of e-waste shipped to third world countries.

When IT equipment needs to be disposed of, data security is a concern for businesses. They will usually opt to have their own people clean the disks, or have the computers privately recycled by specialist computer recycling companies under contract who will maintain security. Ontario’s program will process commercial and consumer waste free of charge, but as EPSC President Dalton Burger explains, “Traditionally, businesses have committed to creating their own recycling programs. This (WEEE) is just another option for they”.

In addition to estimating the future tonnage of IT waste to be disposed of, Statistics Canada also studies the impact of increased levels of toxins in the environment. Used laptops and desktops can be repaired and sold as refurbished computers instead of adding harmful toxins to the environment. Statscan notes that, according to Environment Canada, information technology (IT) and telecommunications products contain hazardous and toxic substances ranging from lead, mercury, and beryllium in computer monitors to arsenic, cadmium, and Lead in mobile phones.

Once these heavy metals and poisons find their way into the water supply and food chain, they are ingested by animals and humans, to the detriment of their longevity and clarity of thought. In addition to the accidental toxins we ingest, fluoride, a waste product of aluminum production, was deliberately introduced into the water supply in the 1940s to achieve several sinister goals: Corporations made astronomical profits by creating a market for a waste chemical, and since the corporations exert control over the government, they have an endless and predictable cash cow with preset orders to add supplies to the drinking water.

The desired political motive is to reduce the general intelligence acuity of the population. The effects of fluoride on brain health are summarized in a Fluoride Action Network report: “Studies in animals and human populations suggest that exposure to fluoride, at levels experienced by a significant proportion of the population whose drinking water is fluoridated, can have adverse impacts on the developing brain Heavy metals and toxic chemicals found in e-waste have a similar effect in interfering with brain wave frequency and should not be allowed in the water supply.

Business

How to Generate Multiple Streams of Affiliate Marketing Income

Have you ever heard or seen the expression “multiple streams of income” before? What does this sentence mean? For many entrepreneurs, generating multiple sources of income offline or online is another way to protect themselves and their businesses for the foreseeable future. Furthermore, they believe that it will also save them from what is called the result of famine in the business industry.

Clearly, operating numerous streams of income from online marketing is absolutely a good idea to build your affiliate commission and internet based business. With these multiple types of internet marketing income, you are working on several affiliate marketing strategies simultaneously. Also, you will optimize your online earnings with all those numerous affiliate marketing techniques. In the following paragraphs, you will discover and learn simple steps to run multiple streams of internet affiliate marketing income.

Once you’re involved in the affiliate marketing business, it’s best when you have numerous online marketing revenue streams to ensure that if one of those particular revenue streams disappears, it won’t bother you as much if it was your only stream of income. income. .

When you rely on only one source of income and this source has been minimized or disappeared, you will undoubtedly end up broke and hopeless. Try and ask the most successful internet marketers online and you will find that they have established numerous sources of income on the internet.

There is an entrepreneur who stated and confirmed that the initial step you need to take to generate multiple streams of income would be to analyze or evaluate your assets. Start by evaluating yourself first.

Write down your answers to the following questions: What exactly are the skills, abilities and strengths that you possess? Are you skilled with exceptional and innovative writing ability? Could you excel in sales? Do you think you are very good at communicating with people? Do you think you are blessed with a creative talent or distinctive skill that others do not have? As a result of this, you will be able to decide the type of business in which you can potentially be successful.

Next, browse and list your physical assets and resources, such as a computer, color printer, scanning device, digital camera, mobile phone, CD or video recorder. Write all of this simply because you can use it as a useful resource. Also consider your family and friends. Find out what they own that you might have access to. Note that no man is definitely an island. You must use the skills, talents, experience, and resources of everyone you meet.

This is essentially the first step if you want to generate numerous streams of income. However, if you are currently a webmaster or possibly a website owner, you actually have an advantage. Can you join other affiliate marketing programs to generate more income from your website?

Getting involved in affiliate marketing on the internet is one of the easiest strategies to generate multiple streams of income. It’s because affiliate programs can be found in a variety of shapes and types. You will find numerous affiliate programs that you could sign up for and start making money right away.

In affiliate marketing, you can also earn money by marketing and reselling your affiliate products and also by signing up new affiliates. What is beneficial with this is that you can discover a wide variety of training resources that will improve your marketing skills. In internet affiliate marketing, you can be sure that you will find legitimate products to market and sell and that genuine income can be generated.

Whether part-time or full-time, becoming an internet marketer is a great way to generate multiple streams of income by marketing internet retailer products and services. You will be able to get commissions online without having to invest a lot of money to create your own product and without having to worry about keeping records, customer service and electronic commerce. All you need to do is advertise and sell the services and products within your website and transfer potential buyers to the provider’s website.

In affiliate marketing, it is best to market additional retailers on your website so that your site visitors can have multiple destinations to choose from. Making use of multiple providers on the same website or niche means only one thing – you have multiple sources of affiliate income.

There is definitely nothing wrong with this particular business approach, simply because it is probably the best method to protect your business and broaden your horizons. As a result of this, you can be sure that you simply won’t run into problems every time one of the website retailers shuts down their program.

However, you will want to select only those affiliate marketing programs that appeal to you in order to market and promote them successfully. Never get sucked into signing up for multiple affiliate marketing programs in the hope that at least one will bring you profit. Choose wisely and don’t get involved in marketing articles you know next to nothing about. Select the items that match your enthusiasm; your passion will show and help guide your potential customers to your affiliate link.

You must also work tirelessly to make your many sources of income more reliable. This can be achieved by adopting some tactics and strategies that will help you get ahead, some characteristics that can help you achieve success in this type of business are patience, persistence and the desire for knowledge.

Finally, keep in mind that you do not give too much importance to one thing because if it fails you have nothing. Well, it’s fair to say that the more sources of income you have, the more income you’ll earn.

Auto

Trailer Customization – Make a Truck Your Home

What you would never connect with luxury of any kind just 20 years ago is the heavy duty semi truck. It often had only a small living room for its driver which consisted of a purpose built bed at the rear of the cab, allowing the driver to rest and sleep while on the side of the road or in the parking lot and in justice. the beds weren’t always great, it’s a good thing they were tired! Today this has changed, truck manufacturers have responded to what drivers want, reaching out to cater to their home away from home, and why not? These guys are on the road and they deserve some reassurance.

The whole idea of ​​the truck as a second home started in the US market about a quarter of a century ago, when truckers began to understand that their semi trucks were actually where they spent much of their lives. both at work and between trips on consignment, they can be outfitted in the same way as a caravan or motor home. Where there is a niche in the market, there is someone to fill it. Before long, companies began to produce and offer accessories of all kinds, which were either new additions to or replacements for standard cab features. When the furniture was there, it was time to consider the equipment. Stereo systems and portable televisions soon became standard equipment, expected by many as standard companion during inhospitable weather and lonely nights.

Today things are even better. The modern trucker can select from a variety of options to make his job easier. You can have a microwave oven, an entertainment system with a larger, less portable flat screen TV, which one would expect to find in a home and not in a truck. The furniture options are endless, the truck owner can choose from thousands of styles from hundreds of vendors to outfit the entire interior of the truck to his or her liking.

Of course, the customization doesn’t stop with the interior of the truck. Custom paint is one of the successes of recent years. Angels and demons, stars and stripes, whatever the driver wants and can afford, can be done by today’s talented painters. Neon lights illuminating the interior or LEDs in the grille, it’s all available to the budding trucker.

After customizing the entire interior and exterior of the truck, the workhorse is transformed into what some would call a mansion on wheels. There is a lot of customization that can be done to trucks today, while still allowing the semi to maintain its original function.

Digital Marketing

Video Marketing: Embrace the Trends of Web Users’ Social and Mobile Internet Choices

There are numerous marketing alternatives for aggressive and resourceful online marketers on the Web today, as innovation has yet to move quickly. It can be quickly remembered that a marketing strategy is making waves high and fast without losing steam or energy.

Characteristics of Video Marketing

Modern customers choose to watch a video about company promotions instead of reading it in the mail. When the videos are well produced to communicate the message in a wonderful way, the videos are more fun and intriguing than text messages.

Video marketing is swallowing up the market as business owner and online marketers take advantage of its features to drive more customers to their business brand and sites. Videos are now offered on mobile phones that are effective in accommodating videos and apps.

Rich video material that is evergreen and beneficial to customers is attracting many to choose video marketing over text material. The company’s promotional videos can be quickly produced in the best video formats using the offered devices of this era of innovation in a short period of time for great long-term effect. The advantages of video marketing are wide and great to attract more and more business online merchants to attract more customers to your company and brand of services and items.

Many imaginative online marketers and business owners are implementing videos as visual sales letters. This is an exceptionally rare concept as today’s customers are more fascinated with a video sales letter than a real mail or brochure that showcases the best of the business or brand.

Video marketing can induce big results like viral videos that would make a business owner or online marketer’s day. When a video goes viral on the Web, it is anticipated that heavy web traffic will flood the company’s website with more consumers and possibly lead to more sales and revenue for business profits.

The essence of video production

Among the main obstacles for video marketing is the production of the video. Many online marketers may feel scared by this job without technical knowledge or skills to produce a video. Contemporary innovation provides a myriad of vibrant video production devices and options that can be quickly put to use without much difficulty.

Online marketers and business entrepreneurs who want to enjoy more cost savings through video marketing can choose to create their own videos instead of hiring the specialists in the market, which can be expensive and not really reliable. . Making a video is not really difficult with the vibration devices offered in the market. The items needed would generally be a webcam or webcam and the best software application to create an effective video in an hour or so for amateur video makers.

You don’t have to be the ‘star’ of the video, as animation is a fantastic alternative for those who are camera shy. If the content and lines are well prepared, there are numerous stars and starlets you could work with to be in a company video promotion. These people are more comfortable in front of the camera to act in a natural and convincing way, however, they must also show interest in the brand and the company’s products and services that will be promoted through the video.

Stars can also be welcome to star in the videos of companies trying to attract more customers to the brand. These stars are usually called brand ambassadors who support the brand and the services or items. Due to their presence and their claim to the brand or item, customers would be attracted to the brand even if the celebrities had only been employed for the commercial video and had not used the product at all.

Great company promotion videos should produce quality material that is fun and engaging in .vid format. This would make the video more available to others across the Web to reach more potential customers and prospective businesses. When the ideal format is activated through an easy guideline, the system would handle the paperwork instantly.

New video marketing technologies

Fourth generation mobile interaction innovations are emerging rapidly with many advanced and vibrant devices being readily offered on the market. Customers are rapidly moving from third-generation innovation devices to the best yet to come.

Videos download quickly at fast speeds for viewing on advanced mobile phones that are portable to encourage continued use from anywhere. This benefits online merchants and entrepreneurs who want to promote their brand and company products all the time to a larger number of audiences.

Most of the sophisticated mobile phones are equipped with the best features and applications to view live video quickly and conveniently to keep up with standard mass media marketing. Mobile video marketing projects are less expensive to build gradually with more vibrant devices and platforms to support the activities.

The Web is an extremely flexible platform that provides a variety of channels to promote video marketing. Social networking websites such as Facebook, Pinterest, and YouTube provide stable environments for online marketers who continually seek out specific chosen niche markets or specific viewing audiences to enjoy company promotional videos. Advanced video production devices and software applications continue to emerge to produce more vibrant and well-produced video as time goes on.

A marketing video or company promotion video should include up-to-date information that is beneficial to the audience before any purchases are triggered on the brand. Wise online marketers would determine the company’s best possible leads as target audiences to increase their chances of success with video promotions.

Online marketers may want to implement the animated explainer video script that is vibrant to engage the audiences. This is the latest pattern with video marketing where even the most captivating human speakers in video can’t match an animated video character to win over audiences.

Legal Law

You Got Your PSAT Scores Back, Now What?

Now that the PSAT scores are out, some of you may be wondering, “what was the point?” Colleges aren’t going to look at your PSAT scores, so why did you take it? Well, the PSAT is actually a pretty important test for a number of reasons. Now that you’ve got your scores back, there are several things you should be doing.

1. Learn about the National Merit Scholarship
The PSAT is the qualifying test for the National Merit Scholarship – it’s a big deal, so if you don’t know what it is, find out! Basically, the National Merit Scholarship is a $2,500 scholarship awarded to 2,500 students each year. Not only is it a great monetary reward, but the scholarship is also very prestigious. At this point, there is not much to do; Basically, all you have to do is wait for the National Merit Scholarship Corporation to release your cut scores to find out whether or not you have a shot at the scholarship. If you’re a sophomore, then you have time to prepare for next year when you take the PSAT for real.

2. SAT Score Prediction
The PSAT is a good predictor of performance on the SAT. Both tests cover nearly identical material and have nearly identical formats (except the PSAT is shorter and doesn’t have an essay). Multiplying a PSAT score by 10 will give an approximate SAT score. Now that you’ve got your PSAT scores back, it’s a good time to look at your strengths and weaknesses and decide what kind and how much SAT preparation is needed to reach your target score. Fortunately, if you didn’t do so well, it doesn’t really matter! What matters is that you have time to prepare for the SAT, which does matter (a lot).

3. Start the preparation
Continuing from the previous point, preparation is key to doing well on the SAT. The PSAT was originally designed to be a practice SAT and a predictor of performance in reality. Use your PSAT scores to help determine how to prepare for the SAT. Full face-to-face courses can help students who need a lot of help; private tutorials focused on specific topics can help those who only need help in certain areas; and solution manuals and practice guides may be preferable to those who prefer to practice by themselves.

4. Look for other scholarships
Depending on your score, some of you can be pretty sure you’ll at least be a National Merit Semifinalist. If so, then it’s a good idea to start looking at other types of scholarships too – being a National Merit Semifinalist or Finalist will open up a lot of doors for you. For example, at Texas A&M University, National Merit Finalists can receive a scholarship that covers all of their tuition for all four years! According to their website, this scholarship could even approach $100,000 for out-of-state students due to the out-of-state tuition waiver. Be sure to check out the schools you want to apply to for potential scholarships!

5. Examine trends in universities
According to the Almanac of Higher Education, the top five universities with the highest number of National Merit Scholars in the incoming class of 2013 were Harvard, Northwestern, the University of Texas at Austin, Yale, and the University of Southern California. Although colleges don’t require PSAT scores as part of the admission review process, having an excellent PSAT score can definitely help your chances of getting into a top-tier school.

Lifestyle Fashion

Can Medifast meals be premade?

Sometimes I hear from people who are trying to make sure that the Medifast diet is as convenient as it sounds. A big draw to this diet is that you don’t have to do much preparation or cooking. So people want to make sure they can take small liberties to make the small amount of prep work that is needed as convenient as possible.

I recently heard from someone who said “is it possible to prep your Medifast meals ahead of time, especially your lean and green food? I don’t have a lot of time during the day to prep meals, especially at work. But if I could prep a lot of my meals in the morning or even the night before would be much better. And if I could pre-make the lean, green meals, preferably in a crock pot, this would help me a lot. Is this even allowed?”

This wannabe dieter was pleased to learn that you can absolutely prepare Medifast meals ahead of time, though many of them require no preparation at all. For example, he doesn’t need to do anything with bars, ready-to-drink shakes, and chips. I prepare many of my meals in advance. I’m not really a morning person, so I don’t want to face the day worrying about putting everything together. You can very easily prepare eggs, brownies, pancakes, pudding, fruit drinks and soft serve ice cream in advance. You can simply put them in Tupperware to keep them fresh. You can also make the soup and chili ahead of time and put it in a thermos. Sometimes I will do this. But, since you really only need hot water for soups and chili, sometimes I just use hot water from the water cooler at my work for those items.

As for the lean and green food, you can make it ahead of time if you want or need to. And you can certainly use a crock pot or anything that makes it easier or more convenient. (I like to use a small countertop convection oven for my lean and green meals because it quickly drains fat from meats and roasts vegetables. You can cook all the foods together in less than 15 minutes.

If it helps to think of it this way, the lean green meal is really just 3 to 5 ounces of lean protein and three servings of vegetables. There are many foods that will meet this requirement. There is no requirement that the food not be prepared in advance or even frozen. I know people who use carefully selected frozen dinners or even takeout or restaurant meals, as long as they keep the ingredients and content in mind. Make this easy for yourself. The diet is designed to be flexible and convenient. If preparing food ahead of time helps you with this, it is my opinion that you should feel free to do so.

Pets

Camping on Missouri Public Lands – Conservation Areas

In the state of Missouri there are over 900 properties operated by the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) as “Conservation Areas”. These Conservation Areas (CAs) can be operated for a variety of purposes. Some are managed as nature reserves, some allow hunting, some allow fishing, some are primarily boat access, and some are combinations of some or all of these. If you’re considering a camping trip to a CA, it’s wise to know what the area is primarily used for, and also make sure camping is allowed. For example, if you are not camping in an area for hunting purposes and will be camping during the fall deer firearms season, you may not fully enjoy your stay.

One of the areas we have used that offers a little bit of everything is the Peck Ranch Conservation Area in the Missouri Ozarks. While not representative of all CAs, it does suggest what some of the more camping friendly ones have to offer. There are two designated camping areas in Peck. One is designated for campers who will not be using generators and one for those who will. This is good for those campers who want peace and solitude without the noise of a generator blaring in the background. On the site without a generator there are also pit toilets. Both campgrounds are equipped with fire rings and picnic tables. This is certainly an example of a campground where there is a lot of activity associated with the deer and turkey hunting seasons. So if you want to avoid this, avoid visiting at these times. This unique CA is over 25,000 acres in total area, about half of which is a designated wildlife area and the rest is fenced. It was once a logging operation and has a unique history as well as geographic features. Summer is a great time to visit for those looking for a place to camp away from the crowds.

Another example of a good CA for camping on the other side of the state (northern Missouri) is Union Ridge, just west of Kirksville. There, unlike most CAs, you can camp next to area parking lots. Also, in “Parking Lot N” off of County Road D, there is a campground with facilities similar to those described at Peck Ranch. Again, things can get a little hectic for non-hunters during deer season, but this area has more to offer than just hunting. While not as large as Peck Ranch (about 8,000 acres), it has about 12 acres total of lakes and fishing ponds, including Union Ridge Lake. These lakes have populations of bass, crappie, catfish, and sunfish.

If you are camping in a CA and will want a campground, be aware that if there is a campground, it will only offer “primitive camping” facilities. This means you’ll have a fire ring and maybe a picnic table and/or outhouse. Having said that, some of these campgrounds are quite well maintained and in absolutely beautiful settings. Since some of these campgrounds are quite small and there is no reservation system, you may also want to be prepared to camp outside of these areas.

If you choose to camp outside of a campground in a CA, assuming this is allowed, keep in mind that you must be 100 yards from the nearest road or parking lot. Also, if you’re camping along a stream or river, camp at least 100 feet away. Also, keep in mind that under certain weather conditions, flooding or even flash flooding can be a hazard.

To find a CA that meets your needs, a little research can go a long way. Fortunately, there are two great resources to help you through this process. First, there is the MDC Conservation Atlas. This atlas is very helpful because it provides area descriptions, maps, regulations, a summary of permitted activities, and of course camping information. Most of these have downloadable maps and/or brochures with trails, campgrounds, and even directions to the area. CAs in the atlas can be searched by CA name, county, or region. This process of going back and forth from the CA to the atlas can be a bit laborious. You end up navigating back and forth between the atlas and CA pages quite a bit. The resource below can help you narrow down the possibilities.

Camping opportunities in the Missouri Conservation Areas will greatly expand the pool of camping areas available to Missouri campers. If you don’t want or need the comforts of a “fancy” private campground or one run by another government agency, these areas may be right for you.

Real Estate

Top Home Renovation Mistakes

The right home renovations can add money on resale. But home renovations can be expensive. How can you know which renewals will pay that money back when you sell? Seasoned real estate agents and contractors know the answer to this question, so I asked them this question.

“Cost overruns are common,” said one contractor. “No matter how well we budget, we always find something that complicates the job, or the owner changes his mind about something. It’s like building a custom house, there are surprises.”

“So what you’re saying is that a homeowner who wants to renovate needs to plan carefully?” I asked.

“Exactly. Do your research before you dive in. We see a lot of people dive in very excited about, say, knocking down a wall to open things up and then finding out that the replacement structure is very expensive.”

One real estate agent told me, “Homeowners should reconsider a new wallpaper project. Wallpaper looks great for about three months and then it’s outdated. I hear prospective buyers say, ‘Uh, we’ll have to tear off that wallpaper’ almost every time you see flower wallpaper on a tour. It’s negative.”

Another element is when a homeowner knocks down a wall to enlarge a master bedroom by removing the adjoining bedroom. “Sure, the master is glorious and wonderful, but now, at the resale, you have a two-bedroom house instead of a three-bedroom house. Believe me, this will reduce the value of the house, even if it has three bathrooms,” he said. the real estate broker.

Another contractor said, “Converting a two-car garage into a family room is a renovation project we get that will cost more than you think, and reselling doesn’t add much. If the new room is in a garage without any windows, the Most code inspectors won’t let you use it as a bedroom either. And people like garages.”

The one mistake I saw a lot of when I was a home inspector was homeowners deciding to do the renovation work themselves. I’m not saying qualified people shouldn’t step in and do some or all of the work, but make sure you’re really qualified. Sometimes people don’t know what they don’t know. DIY renovations can be pretty obvious and unappealing to homebuyers.

An example was a bathroom in a house where the owner had installed all the fixtures himself. Incorrect plumbing traps, fixtures and couplings used, hot water line going to toilet (didn’t notice) and three faucets were slow leaking. The buyers liked the house, but turned down a $1500 estimate to fix everything up to code in that “unique” bathroom.

“I’ve seen people spend a lot of money on a very fancy and luxurious kitchen. While they liked it a lot themselves, when they went to sell they only got about 20% of that cost back. The reason was that the house was just not in that price point or in an area with other homes that would get that kind of upgrade. So tell your readers to do some serious research before they decide to spend a lot of money on the kitchen, unless they’re staying in the house.”

The lesson here is this: research and planning are critical if you want to renew. Find out what the return on investment is (the Internet, contractors, and real estate agents can help) before you start, and get at least three proposals before you start.