Chance Gates' Blog

Source: The Best of The Old Farmer's Almanac, The First 200 Years

http://www.almanac.com

Here are 16 folk remedies for headaches:

1. Put leeches on your forehead.
2. Rub cow dung and molasses on your temples.
3. Tie a buzzard’s head around your neck.
4. Use powdered moss as snuff.
5. Have someone else rub your head; the headache will be transferred to that person, but it will be less severe.
6. Have a relative read chapters of the Bible to you.
7. Stand on your head or spin around until you are dizzy.
8. Soak your feet in hot water to draw blood from your head.
9. Run around the house three times.
10. Ask a seventh child to blow in your ear.
11. Put a buckwheat cake on your head.
12. Rub your head with a piece of stone containing iron ore.
13. Wrap damp cloths around your head and burn scented wood.
14. Plait a handful of hair very tightly on top of your head.
15. Lean your head against a tree and have someone else drive a nail into the opposite side of the tree.

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As a Reno/Sparks real estate professional, I encourage all questions and comments on the Reno/Sparks real estate market or any of the articles posted in this blog. Please feel free to use my back door to the MLS and search the houses available in the Reno/Sparks and most Northwest Nevada neighborhoods. I can be reached by email @ chance@ballard-company.comhttp://www.myspace.com/chancegates .  You can also follow me at http://www.twitter.com/chancegates .  If you are behind on your house payment and looking for a loan modification, go to making homes affordable For a free copy of my report   “5 Steps For Reno/Sparks Homeowners To Prevent Foreclosures” go to my about page http://chancegates.com/about and ask for more information on preventing foreclosures. or   to request a modification.  If the modification fails, contact your local real estate professional to help short sale your home.  To make sure there is no deficiency judgment a homeowner might find it necessary to hire an attorney.

http://www.farmersalmanac.com by Jaime McLeod

Camping is a popular pastime that’s good for both body and soul. Spending time immersed in Mother Nature’s beauty can decrease stress and create a sense of connection and well-being, while hiking, fishing, and related activities strengthen our bodies.

Though summer is the most popular season for camping, the fun doesn’t have to end just because autumn has arrived. Fall can be one of the best times of the year for spending time outdoors. Mosquitoes and other summer pests have mostly disappeared, as have the droves of other people clogging up your favorite destination and taking the best campsites. The changing leaves are a special treat, and the chill in the air makes nature hikes a little easier.

With a little extra planning, an autumn outing can be as good as, or better than, a summer camping trip. Here are some important things to consider:

• Wear layers. Autumn temperatures can be extremely unpredictable, with summer-like highs one day and downright wintry conditions the next. Even the warmest days can turn bitterly cold as the sun goes down. Be prepared for a variety of conditions and adjust your wardrobe accordingly.

• Wear a hat. Most of your body heat escapes from your head. This is especially critical at night, when temperatures can plummet close to freezing, but is also important to remember during the daytime. You can layer on all the clothes you want, but if your head is bare, it’s easy to become too cold.

• Make sure your sleeping bag is rated for cold weather. Being warm enough, especially while sleeping, can mean the difference between a happy memory and a trip to the hospital. A mummy bag is the best bet, because it keeps in the most warmth, especially form your head, where, to repeat, most of your body heat escapes. It’s also a good idea to use a sleeping pad to insulate yourself from the cold ground.

• Consider cooking times. Food takes longer to cook when it’s cold to begin with, and the days are shorter. Allow yourself enough time before it gets dark to cook.

• Be aware of wildlife. Bears and other animals are always a concern, but they can become even more of a danger in the autumn. As their food supply begins to die off, they become more determined in their foraging. Be sure to seal up any food you have in airtight containers – or in your car if it’s nearby – to prevent attracting them. Be on the lookout for bees and wasps, too. They become more active, and more aggressive, at this time of year.

By taking these simple precautions, you can continue enjoy crisp nights around a warm campfire for several more weeks to come!

Mark your favorite properties and get instant updates price changes,  new pictures and status changes.

As a Reno/Sparks real estate professional, I encourage all questions and comments on the Reno/Sparks real estate market or any of the articles posted in this blog. Please feel free to use my back door to the MLS and search the houses available in the Reno/Sparks and most Northwest Nevada neighborhoods. I can be reached by email @ chance@ballard-company.comhttp://www.myspace.com/chancegates .  You can also follow me at http://www.twitter.com/chancegates .  If you are behind on your house payment and looking for a loan modification, go to making homes affordable For a free copy of my report   “5 Steps For Reno/Sparks Homeowners To Prevent Foreclosures” go to my about page http://chancegates.com/about and ask for more information on preventing foreclosures. or   to request a modification.  If the modification fails, contact your local real estate professional to help short sale your home.  To make sure there is no deficiency judgment a homeowner might find it necessary to hire an attorney.

By: Lisa Kaplan Gordon

Published: May 13, 2011

Home improvement trends embrace energy efficiency, low maintenance exteriors, and double-duty space.

Trend #1: Maintenance-free siding

We continue to choose maintenance-free siding that lives as long as we do, but with a lot less upkeep. But more and more we’re opting for fiber-cement siding, one of the fastest-growing segments of the siding market. It’s a combination of cement, sand, and cellulosic fibers that looks like wood but won’t rot, combust, or succumb to termites and other wood-boring insects.

At $5 to $9 per sq. ft., installed, fiber-cement siding is more expensive than paint-grade wood, vinyl, and aluminum siding. It returns 80% of investment, the highest return of any upscale project on Remodeling magazine’s latest Cost vs. Value Report.

Maintenance is limited to a cleaning and some caulking each spring. Repaint every 7 to 15 years. Wood requires repainting every 4 to 7 years.

Trend #2: Convertible spaces

Forget “museum rooms” we use twice a year (dining rooms and living rooms) and embrace convertible spaces that change with our whims.

Foldaway walls turn a private study into an easy-flow party space. Walls can consist of fancy, glass panels ($600 to $1,600 per linear ft., depending on the system); or they can be simple vinyl-covered accordions  ($1,230 for 7 ft. by 10 ft.). PortablePartions.com sells walls on wheels ($775 for approximately 7 ft. by 7 ft.).

A Murphy bed pulls down from an armoire-looking wall unit and turns any room into a guest room. Prices, including installation and cabinetry, range from $2,000 (twin with main cabinet) to more than $5,000 (California king with main and side units). Just search online for sellers.

And don’t forget area rugs that easily define, and redefine, open spaces.

Trend #3: A laundry room of your own

Humankind advanced when the laundry room arose from the basement to a louvered closet on the second floor where clothes live. Now, we’re taking another step forward by granting washday a room of its own.

If you’re thinking of remodeling, turn a mudroom or extra bedroom into a dedicated laundry room big enough to house the washer and dryer, hang hand-washables, and store bulk boxes of detergent.

Look for spaces that already have plumbing hookups or are adjacent to rooms with running water to save on plumbing costs.

Trend #4: Souped-up kitchens

Although houses are trending smaller, kitchens are getting bigger, according to the American Institute of Architects’ Home Design Trends Survey.

Kitchen remodels open the space, perhaps incorporating lonely dining rooms, and feature recycling centers, large pantries, and recharging stations.

Oversized and high-priced commercial appliances—did we ever fire up six burners at once?—are yielding to family-sized, mid-range models that recover at least one cabinet for storage.

Since the entire family now helps prepare dinner (in your dreams), double prep sinks have evolved into dual-prep islands with lots of counter space and pull-out drawers.

Trend #5: Energy diets

We’re wrestling with an energy disorder: We’re binging on electronics—cell phones, iPads, Blackberries, laptops–then crash dieting by installing LED fixtures and turning the thermostat to 68 degrees.

Are we ahead of the energy game? Only the energy monitors and meters know for sure.

These new tracking devices can gauge electricity usage of individual electronics ($20 to $30) or monitor whole house energy ($100 to $250). The TED 5000 Energy Monitor ($240) supplies real-time feedback that you can view remotely and graph by the second, minute, hour, day, and month.

Trend #6: Love that storage

As we bow to the new god of declutter, storage has become the holy grail.

We’re not talking about more baskets we can trip over in the night; we’re imagining and discovering built-in storage in unlikely spaces–under stairs, over doors, beneath floors.

Under-appreciated nooks that once displayed antique desks are growing into built-ins for books and collections. Slap on some doors, and you can hide office supplies and buckets of Legos.

Giant master suites, with floor space to land a 747, are being divided to conquer clutter with more walk-in closets.

Trend #7: Home offices come out of the closet

Flexible work schedules, mobile communications, and entrepreneurial zeal are relocating us from the office downtown to home.

Laptops and wireless connections let us telecommute from anywhere in the house, but we still want a dedicated space (preferably with a door) for files, supplies, and printers.

Spare bedrooms are becoming home offices and family room niches are morphing into working nooks. After a weekend of de-cluttering, basements and attics are reborn as work centers.

Lisa Kaplan Gordon is a HouseLogic contributor and homebuilder.

Logging in allows you to save your favorite properties and get instant updates price changes,  new pictures and open houses on the property.

As a Reno/Sparks real estate professional, I encourage all questions and comments on the Reno/Sparks real estate market or any of the articles posted in this blog. Please feel free to use my back door to the MLS and search the houses available in the Reno/Sparks and most Northwest Nevada neighborhoods. I can be reached by email @ chance@ballard-company.comhttp://www.myspace.com/chancegates .  You can also follow me at http://www.twitter.com/chancegates .  If you are behind on your house payment and looking for a loan modification, go to making homes affordable For a free copy of my report   “5 Steps For Reno/Sparks Homeowners To Prevent Foreclosures” go to my about page http://chancegates.com/about and ask for more information on preventing foreclosures. or   to request a modification.  If the modification fails, contact your local real estate professional to help short sale your home.  To make sure there is no deficiency judgment a homeowner might find it necessary to hire an attorney

Image via CrunchBase

More businesses are seeking greater mobility and are opting for computer tablets over laptops, according to a recent study from Robert Half Technology.

The study shows that companies expect to increase tablet usage by 50 percent within the next two years.

“Tablets are simply more mobile,” says Soowan Scheuermann, marketing manager for the staffing firm. “They’re lighter and smaller. It’s more feasible to carry around a tablet to make notes than it is with a laptop.”

Companies have plenty to choose from in tablets too as tech companies continue to introduce new models ever since Apple recreated the tablet market with the launch of its iPad in 2009. Apple had sold nearly 15 million iPads through December 2010. But besides Apple’s iPad 2, which recently debuted, companies such as Motorola, Acer, Samsung, LG, Blackberry, and HTC also are launching tablets.

Goldman Sachs estimates that overall tablet sales would increase by 500 percent in 2011.

Source: “Laptops Gather Dust as Business Turns to Tablets,” San Antonio Express-News (March 10, 2011)

Logging in allows you to save your favorite properties and get instant updates price changes,  new pictures and open houses on the property.

As a Reno/Sparks real estate professional, I encourage all questions and comments on the Reno/Sparks real estate market or any of the articles posted in this blog. Please feel free to use my back door to the MLS and search the houses available in the Reno/Sparks and most Northwest Nevada neighborhoods. I can be reached by email @ chance@ballard-company.comhttp://www.myspace.com/chancegates .  You can also follow me at http://www.twitter.com/chancegates .  If you are behind on your house payment and looking for a loan modification, go to making homes affordable For a free copy of my report   “5 Steps For Reno/Sparks Homeowners To Prevent Foreclosures” go to my about page http://chancegates.com/about and ask for more information on preventing foreclosures. or   to request a modification.  If the modification fails, contact your local real estate professional to help short sale your home.  To make sure there is no deficiency judgment a homeowner might find it necessary to hire an attorney.

Image via Wikipedia

By Jane Glenn Haas

RISMEDIA, November 1, 2010–(MCT)–Let’s talk about Kindles and iPads and other new, bright LCD screens: Are the millions of Americans who have bought these devices setting themselves up for headaches, eye strains and other computer vision syndrome symptoms?

Smartphones and similar devices might cause vision concerns, says Dr. Roger Phelps, spokesman for VSP Vision Care.

According to recent research with VSP eye doctors, 33 percent reported that nearly one-third or more of their patients suffer from digital device related vision problems. The most common include eye strain (82 percent), dry or irritated eyes (74 percent), fatigue (70 percent) and headaches (61 percent).

Q. You say not many patients are aware of computer vision syndrome?
A. Two out of three eye doctors say fewer than 20 percent of their patients are aware of this syndrome.

Q. What’s the difference between using a desktop computer and a Kindle or even a smartphone as far as vision strain is concerned?
A. OK. What happened in the past was you had regular eyeglasses for infinity — distance — and reading, about 16 inches.

Now there is a desktop computer screen, about 24 inches, that may require a separate pair of eyeglasses.

In addition, with a smartphone or the like, I can go to the website of, say, CNN, but it is really small. Some of these screens are best read at 12 inches — usually by a teen or someone under 40.

Q. Oh, come on! Only young people can read these small screens?
A. We can prescribe eyeglasses to read these screens, but they still must be held at a 12-inch distance from the eyes.

Q. So you are talking about eyeglasses for distance, 20 or 24 inches for desktop computers, 16 inches to read a book and 12 inches to read a smartphone screen?
A. We can prescribe progressive lenses.

Q. What’s the easiest thing people over 40 can do to avoid these eye problems?
A. To protect your eyes while using your iPads, Kindles and so on, here are a few tips:

— Pay attention to environmental lighting. Reading on digital devices provides its own light but can be difficult to see in a bright light or when outdoors. Adjusting the angle and turning up the screen brightness all the way with the auto-brightness off can help.

— Don’t forget to blink, breathe and break. Many doctors call this the 20/20/20 rule. Every 20 minutes, take 20 seconds and look at something 20 feet away.

— Use computer vision glasses. Even if you have near-perfect vision, these glasses can ease eye strain from prolonged use of a digital device.

— Get your eyes checked. Have an annual exam and talk to your doctor about your digital usage — especially if you are experiencing symptoms that include headaches, backaches, dry eyes and so on.

Q. What about using artificial tears products?
A. A lot of people get dry eyes as they get older. Sometimes they don’t realize it’s dry eye because their eyes are watering a lot. Actually, that can be a symptom as the eye tries to wash stuff away.

Check the brand you are using with your doctor.

Q. Why are these eye problems becoming more common?
A. People are spending about six hours daily working at a computer then doing other computer-screen reading — such as on the Kindle — for pleasure. Computer vision syndrome is up there with carpal tunnel problems and other work-related concerns.

(c) 2010, The Orange County Register (Santa Ana, Calif.).
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

As a Reno/Sparks real estate professional, I encourage all questions and comments on the Reno/Sparks real estate market or any of the articles posted in this blog. Please feel free to use my back door to the MLS and search the houses available in the Reno/Sparks and most Northwest Nevada neighborhoods. I can be reached by email @ chance@ballard-company.com or  http://www.myspace.com/chancegates .  You can also follow me at http://www.twitter.com/chancegates .  If you are behind on your house payment and looking for a loan modification, go to making homes affordable to request a modification.  If the modification fails, contact your local real estate professional to help short sale your home.  To make sure there is no deficiency judgment a homeowner might find it necessary to hire an attorney. For a free copy of my blog titled  “5 Steps For Reno/Sparks Homeowners To Prevent Foreclosures” go to my about page http://chancegates.com/about and ask for more information on preventing foreclosures.

One of the great things about doing real estate in the Reno/Sparks area is being associated with Realty World.  When it comes to the new technology being brought to the market, Realty World has some of the best technology people you will ever meet.  They make it appoint to keep us all informed on what is new and a must have for the industry.

The newest is the Apple iPad.  If I had to describe the Apple iPad in one word, that word would be “wow”.  The new iPad will be available in 60 days and starts below $500.00 and goes up from there.  It has 9.7″ screen and a battery life up to 10 hours.  16GB – 64GB flash storage memory.

One of the best accessories is the keyboard doc/charger.  By placing the iPad into the keyboard a person has a full size keyboard while charging the Ipad.

Read more: http://www.realtyworldnca.com/2010/01/27/apple-ipad-revealed/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+RealtyWorldNorthernCaliforniaNevada+%28Realty+World+Northern+California+%26+Nevada%29

As a Reno/Sparks real estate professional, I encourage all questions or comments on the Reno/Sparks real estate market or any of the articles posted on this blog.  I can be reached by email at:   chance at ballard-company.com or http://www.myspace.com/chancegates