Family Law and the UCCJEA – What Happens When a Parent Takes a Child to Another State?

The Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act (UCCJEA) is a Uniform Act drafted in 1997, and adopted by the majority of states in the U.S., for the purpose of providing a solution to jurisdictional issues when parents and children live in different states. The UCCJEA replaced the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction Act (UCCJA), the previous Uniform Act, because of that Act’s discrepancies with the federal Parental Kidnapping Prevention Act (PKPA).

Before I delve too deeply into the UCCJEA, this article is purely for information purposes only and is not legal advice. If you need legal advice for your specific situation, or need questions answered pertaining to your legal issues, you should contact a family law attorney in your state.

So what are the basics of the UCCJEA?

(1) Home State jurisdiction:

The UCCJEA vests exclusive and continuing jurisdiction over child custody determinations in the courts of the child’s “home state.” This is the crux of the UCCJEA. But what is the home state? It is defined as the state where the child has resided for at least six consecutive months preceding the filing of the child custody proceeding, or since the child’s birth if the child is less than six months old.

If the child has not lived in a state for six consecutive months immediately preceding the custody action, then the act contemplates jurisdiction in the state which has significant connections to the child and at least one parent, and where substantial evidence concerning the child is located. If more than one state falls in this category, then the courts of each state must communicate with each other to determine which is the better one for jurisdictional purposes.

(2) Exclusive and continuing jurisdiction:

Once a court has exercised jurisdiction and made a child custody determination, then that court has exclusive, continuing jurisdiction until one of two things occurs. First, the court could determine that neither the child, the child’s parents, nor any person acting as a parent has a significant connection with the state and that there no longer is substantial evidence available concerning the child, at which point the court would decline jurisdiction. Second, the original court or the court of another state could determine that neither the child, the child’s parents, or any person acting as a parent reside in the original state, at which point either court could determine that continuing jurisdiction has ended. Continuing jurisdiction is an important question when one or both parents initiate a custody modification proceeding.

(3) Temporary emergency jurisdiction:

But what happens when one party absconds with the children to another state? To some extent, the UCCJEA deals with this issue. A state which does not otherwise have jurisdiction may exercise temporary emergency jurisdiction if it determines that the child is in danger and needs immediate protection.

After issuing the temporary order, the court will then look to see whether there is already a custody order in place. If there is already an order, the temporary order will allow the parent or parents a reasonable amount of time to return to the court with continuing jurisdiction to argue the custody case. If there isn’t an order in place, then the temporary order will remain in effect until a court exercises home state jurisdiction and makes a custody determination.

How to Reduce Dependency on Computer Repair Professionals?

Computer problems arise in any system at one point one or another. You are just waiting for the Windows screen to show up, but the start up speed is so slow. Its quite true that such computer problems have made it mandatory for computer users to call professional every now and then in their homes. They can’t do anything but to rely on the help of such people for curing their system of some error which has cropped up mistakenly.Why computer problems bug up users is one of the most pertinent questions troubling most of the PC operators.Its important to know that such computer problems arise in systems because they are not taken care of by their users. The users install software on their PCs due to which they find irksome problems cropping up now and then.Most of the users don’t get solutions for their problem when they call PC professionals. Although these professionals introduce temporary fixes into the machines, they don’t solve the problems for the users permanently. The problems are only solved when the users become proficient in introducing the solutions themselves.Many computer problems can also be solved by rebooting the system. Such booting is quite essential so that the users registry restore. Such registry restore operations are necessary to introduce the right files from the i386 folder located in the Windows XP or any other Windows operating system’s booting CD. The users ought to know the right steps for carrying out such registry restore solutions because any wrong step can hamper the working of the registry, disabling your machine and functions for a long time.So, the need for consulting a proper computer solutions and problems website is quite crucial for the following reasons.Broken PC-When the PC is forced to face such an error, the computers face critical errors like black and blue screens. Such PC crash situations can be gotten rid of through the intelligent computer experts of such websites who know how to tweak your system
Windows problems-Through such a website, user also receives adequate help regarding the minor issues which arise in their systems through viruses contracted online. System restore is the best option in such a scenario because the system can be taken to a previous state. In this state, the virus was not even present on the systemSo, the users can gain immense guidance through the system restore solutions of a computer problems and solutions website.

Accounting and Payroll Software – Industry Jargon Defined

Just as your business has its own set of jargon or industry-specific terminology, so does the software industry! If you are searching for accounting or payroll software, the likelihood of hearing these terms is fairly high. Be prepared to speak with software representatives by understanding these key terms, and you will have a better chance of your needs being understood and met.Application: This term is used to refer to a software program, as in: That application works well for processing invoices.Compatible: Where software is concerned, compatible refers to whether applications can work well and exchange information together. Is this new payroll system compatible with the time clock we are already using? This can also refer to whether this software can run on a particular computer.Customizable: There are two references of “customizable” in the software world. The first is the ability to alter the settings of a program to meet your specific needs, such as adding or omitting fields of information or creating and saving your own templates for later use. The second use of this term refers to open source code products. When customizing an open source product, you can actually change the software code within the program, potentially changing its functionality permanently. I like our new software because the invoice designs are customizable.Dashboard: Just as your car’s dashboard shows you information about operating your vehicle, a software dashboard displays your most important menu options and tools available for operating your software system. This is typically the screen you see first when opening your program. The dashboard within this system makes it really easy to do my job.Demo: Of course this is a shortened version of the word demonstration. A demo usually provides an opportunity to view a software package’s functionality, whether in video format, guided online or live tour, or even a trial version of the software. The demo really helped us gain an understanding of what it’s like to use that program.Driver: A software program that, when installed, helps your computer understand how to use a hardware device. Once we installed the driver, we were able to use the new mouse right away.Feature: Options or tools for functionality provided within a software program. Our new software program has more features than our prior program, allowing us to enter and pull out information in a way that fits our company better.Interface: An interface refers to the direct communication between two software products. Many accounting software applications have an interface to payroll software applications, allowing you to post data with a few simple clicks. Interface can also refer to the way in which a software application is presented to the user as in: The user interface for that program makes it easy to navigate and use.Intuitive: This refers to how easy it is to operate a system without training. The system was so intuitive that I felt at ease using it after only a short time.Legacy Products: Just as our ancestors have built a legacy, so have the age-old software products that have stood the test of time. In the software world, legacy products are those that have become outdated, yet may or may not still be supported. Though newer software is now available, he chose to stay with his legacy software program.Migration: While you may associate this term with birds flying south, in the software industry it refers to the transfer of data from one application to another. A software company can often migrate your data from an older application to a newer one.Module: This refers to each software element that performs a distinct function, usually each of which can stand on their own without depending on other elements. The software company just added a ratios module which greatly enhances a company’s ability to see where improvements are needed.Network: A group of computers that can interact with one another. All of the users of our software can enter information into the same database because they are set up as a network.Operating System: An operating system is the software within a computer that makes it run. The major providers of operating systems are Microsoft (for PCs) and Apple (for Macs). I just got a new computer which came with the industry’s latest operating system.Robust: If you think of coffee when you hear this word, you are not alone. Robust in the software world refers to a software package’s features being in-depth and complete. That system is robust and can surely handle our complex needs.Support: This one may seem obvious. Most software companies offer support plans to go along with their software products. These support plans typically include assistance and problem solving for users of the software. Support can be conducted via telephone, e-mail, the internet, via help documents and videos, and more, depending on the company. What kind of support plans does this software company offer for their customers?User Seats: No, this is not the chair you sit in while you use your computer. A user seat with reference to software denotes an independent user of the software system. Each user seat provides the capability for one person to be using the system simultaneously along with others. Therefore if you have three user seats, three people can be in the same program working at the same time. You will often see the word “concurrent” in front of this term. Two people will need to be entering payroll data at the same time, so we’ll need two user seats.Updates: An update is a new release of the software that can fix problems or enhance a software program. The software company recommends all users implement the latest update to their software, to ensure smooth ongoing operation within their program.Version: Software companies often provide updates and improvements to their programs in Version schemes, represented by numbers or letters which demonstrates the importance of what is being released. I need to download the latest version of my software because it includes crucial elements which can really help my business.Getting to know these software terms will put you on the road to a better understanding during your software search.

Online School Degree – How to Find Accredited Online University Programs Easily

Getting a college education these days is not only very time consuming but it is also very inconvenient as most of the time you are struggling to balance your college courses with your real life responsibilities. You also have to deal with such problems as finding a parking spot in your university to park at, time in between classes to eat lunch, then to head home in the afternoon only to come back in the evening for your 2 day a week night courses. I am here to tell you that there is a much easier and stress-free way to get a college degree at a great discount.Signing up for an online school degree can be your first step towards making your daily schedule a much less hectic one. The major advantages of taking online college courses over land-based skills is that you can don’t need to wake up an 90 minutes early each day to make it past traffic on time to your scheduled classes just so you do not miss any part of the lecture. With internet college classes you just wake up, turn your pc on and start listening to your professor lecture being in your pajamas in the comfort of your own home. Another advantage here is the price of these courses. Most online classes are on the average at least 50% cheaper then if you were signing up at a University. If you have children then you can get your education on the internet each day while keeping an eye on your kids at the same time. This is a much better alternative then leaving them with a baby sitter.Now that you have set your mind on getting an online school degree, how do you go about getting one that will be nationally recognized on your resume when you are applying for a job later on. The first thing you would need to do when checking up on these online university programs is to make sure that they are nationally accredited. This means that they will be recognized in the same way as if you got a degree from a land based college. You can do this by simply calling them up and asking their land based counter parts to verify this information. I once took an online course for marketing through San Diego State University and enjoyed it so much that 12 years later I still talk about the experience with my old friends. There are many online university programs near you that offer online classes as this not only saves you a lot of time and money but also saves your university physical class space and expenses on books and classroom equipment like chairs and tables. So you can say its a win-win situation for both the student and the school involved. Be sure to do your due diligence and ask around online at online education forums to verify the experiences of other students with the particular online school that you are looking to sign up with.

Everything You Need to Know About Investing

To become successful with your money, you have to make your money work for you. You sell your labor which in return makes you money. By making each individual dollar work for you, this in return makes you wealthy over time. There are a plethora of investing opportunities out there. The key is to figure out which one is the right one for your financial situation.Stocks
The most popular of all investing opportunities, are stocks. Stocks are probably the main thing you think of when you hear of investing. When you buy a stock, you buy partial ownership of a company. Stocks range anywhere from $2, to $12,000, which can appeal to a large variety of people. To be successful when trading stocks, you have to buy low and sell high. Of course this isn’t easy, considering the market is always fluctuating. You need to watch the history of the company, know the PE Ratio, the day range, the 52 week range, etc. Knowing this information can help you predict if the stock will go up or down. You can make a lot of money investing in stocks, which means you can also lose a lot of money. You want to keep in mind that most investments in stocks are long term investments. It is very risky investing, but if you do the proper research of the history of the company, you can get a very good return.Stock Investing Tips1.) Have the Right Expectations
When you are investing in stocks, you want to make sure you aren’t expecting to become Warren Buffet over night. It just wont happen. You want to make sure you do the proper amount of research, and make sure you know the history of the market as well as the company you are investing in. When investing in stocks, the return is around 10%-13%. You don’t want to make hasty decisions and buy and sell a lot just because you aren’t making the money you expected. Make sure you know how long you are keeping an investment, and then make a commitment. This will help you focus on the principles.2.) Don’t Listen to the Media
Don’t get caught up in what everyone is talking about and what is being said around you. It will take your decision from being based on research and history, to just “hear-say”. This will hurt your investments immensely. Most of the hype and other things that are being said are just the daily fluctuation of the market.3.) Stay Focused
You want to make sure you are putting all your effort and focus into your investments. Once you buy a stock, you own part of a company. Make sure you treat it the way it is and make sure you do the proper research of all aspects of what you’re investing in. Doing your research can change your investment of making a profit of $15,000, to losing $15,000. In the end, it’s always worth it to do the extra work.Mutual Funds
When you invest in Mutual Funds, you are pooling your money with a number of other investors. You then pay someone to professionally manage and choose each individual security for you. There are a variety of different mutual funds you can choose to invest in, which range to fit your investment strategy.
3 Types of Mutual Funds
1.) Open-Ended
2.) Unit Investment Trust
3.) Close-EndedMutual Fund Investing Tips1.) Look at the Fees
Always look at the fees involved when investing in Mutual Funds. When you pay more for something, this usually means that you are going to be getting a better product or service, right? Yes! Makes sure you find the best deal, but make sure you are investing the right amount of money in the right places. It can change the course of the whole investment in the long run.2.) Research the History
One thing you can do to prepare an investment is to check out the history of the Mutual Fund. Just like anything, the history shows how well it has performed, and can be a good indicator. This can directly tell you if it will be a good investment whether it be long term or short term. Another thing you want to look at, is the asset of the fund. If it’s doing good, and there is a community of people investing in it, it can tell you if its a smart idea to invest yourself. Always check the history of any investment before you decide to purchase.3.) Look at the Contract
You never know what is all involved until you take a detailed look at the prospectus provided by the fund. You want to make sure you don’t just know bits and pieces of what’s involved, but everything there is to know, and then some. Make sure you know all the fees involved with buying and selling funds, and if there are international fees required. Knowing this can help you determine if the company is a solid company where you can make money, or if you are getting into something you will regret in the future.Bank Investments
Bank accounts are one of the simplest form of investment. Most banks give you a very small percentage for opening a bank account and giving them your money. This percentage barely beats the rise of inflation, so unless you are keeping hundreds of thousands of dollars in the bank, you won’t be creating any wealth from this form of investment. Another way to invest in your bank is a CD, or Certificate of Deposit. A CD if very similar to a bank account, but they are usually for a fixed amount of time. They can be monthly, every six months, a year, etc. the CD is then held until its maturity date, and paid back with interest. A Certificate of Deposit usually earns more money than an account at which you can withdrawal the money at any time, like a bank account.Alternative Investments
Apart from the basic investments, there are other special securities. These investments include gold/silver, real estate, etc. These investments are speculative and can be very high profit, however; you need to have the knowledge.1.) Gold & Silver
The first thing you want to do before you invest in gold or silver, is to look at the market and decide if now is the best time to invest in precious metals. You can also talk to a professional and decide when the best time to buy and sell would be. You want to make sure you are familiar with the variety of ways to invest in silver. You can invest in silver mining companies, silver ETF’s, silver futures, silver bullion, and also silver coins. You want to make sure the Exchange Traded Funds (ETF) are backed by physical gold and silver. Another thing to remember, is to not just own a paper owning, but the actual precious metal as well.

How To Start A Service Business

Setting Up A Service Based Business For BeginnersAlthough there are exceptions where both entities are entwined into one, most basics of the business is built around one unifying category so that the intentions and goals are clearly and visibly set.This distinction allows the individual to then decide of the accompanying tools that should be chosen for the purpose of enhancing the business experience and also to contribute positively to the ease of running the business entity.Most service based forays are labor intensive which the business entity revolves around. This is either packaged as the selling of expertise in a particular field or the selling of the actual “engines” that produce the desired outcome that bring in the revenue.Either way the quality, efficiency, attention and detail that is exercised within the business are the eventual elements that are going to make or break the business foray into the revenue churning mechanism.Basically offering the time frame required to create a particular service or to provide the content of the project itself is how the cost factor is calculated and the profits are gained in the service based business.Therefore, the individual would have to factor in the cost of business entity by the labor intensive tool it provides, in order to provide a suitable base line for the eventual calculation of the profits and the pricing suitable to be demanded.Alternatively the value of the service based business can be calculated on the value of the service being provided in a consultancy capacity which is evaluated against the insights the said service will bring to the company with the intention of creating a system thereby the said company is able to save or be more cost effective.Being able to identify a suitable and good service based company is very important if the new business or existing business owner intends to hire its services to help enhance the site’s potential.Identifying the characteristics of a particular service based company and matching them to the needs of the site in question will allow the business owner is make an informed decision of the merits of the chosen service.Do Your Research First-Customer perception of a company is very important to the progress and eventual success of any business endeavor, therefore it is very important to be able to identify the appropriate service based one to best suit the individual’s needs.Being able to provide good service should always be the prime concern of any business entity especially if its revenue earning power depends on this one factor.Market research is often the best way to identify the companies that have good track records and are capable of delivering what they promise.This information can easily be sourced over the internet as these companies will be active in presenting their achievements for all interested parties to view.It is also an excellent platform for potential clients and competitors alike to note the merits of the presenting service based company.Being well-placed on the search engine rankings will allow the service based company to be more visible and thus make it easier to garner the intended customer base to ensure its consistent success.The features of a good service based company would have to include the value added by the business entity from the input stage to the output stage where the results are then measured by its success rates.These input stages are often regarded as the commodity phase and the processes that it is designed around have to ensure the successful output stage which is where the end desired results are more than adequately met.Making a sale or pushing a business proposition is never an easy task to accomplish for some, therefore having the relevant assisting tools at hand should provide the individual with some encouragement to see the process to success.Marketing Skills-The following are some tools that can prove to be of great assistance to any individual intending to beef up their marketing skills:Making use of as many online tools as possible to promote the business or product intended is one way to start the enhancement of the marketing skills venture.Using blogs to create the interest and visibility for the item is something that should be considered as this is one way to get the attention of the target audience without much cost incurred.Working together with others is another way to beef up an individual’s marketing skills. Being part of a team effort where the individual’s talents and contributions are noticed and acknowledged is definitely an encouraging factor and helps the individual to be more adventurous and keen on honing his or her skills further.Availing one’s self to be listed on freelance job sites is also another way of beefing up the marketing skill of an individual. The fact that the visibility factor the site can bring to the individual will help the person focus more on ensuring the eventual connections made are optimized and locked in at the earliest opportunity.Social websites are also a good platform to introduce one’s marketing skills to the masses.Because of the competitiveness of all the participants in this particular platform the individual will subconsciously be forced to step out and ensure his or her participation leaves a positive impact on the interactions.Showcasing all the positive skill of the marketing process will eventually earn the respect and attention of others looking for such services.Create Your Website-Creating a website can be a challenging feat for those not very internet savvy, however it is not altogether a task that is formidable in nature. With a little startup knowledge and tips anyone can successfully attempt to put together their own website.The following are some guidelines that will help ease the process:Registering the suitable domain name is the first step to take when designing a website.The choice of this domain name should ideally take into consideration the relevance the name has to the intended site, an easy to remember reference, one that is short yet descriptive and whether it has the right extensions tagged to it such as.net,.com,.org.The next step would be to set up a web host account and this would entail the picking one that can provide the services the individual would need for the website.Although cost is always a factor for every business endeavor, it would be advisable to avoid using the cheaper and inexperienced ones available as this might end up costing the individual in the future.The follow up step would be to point the domain to the web host in place.This is a fairly simple exercise, however if the individual faces any potential problems along the way there are always assisting platforms to tap into to get the relevant help or explanations.Getting a word press linked to the site is another important step to incorporate into the setup. This word press is a free platform that is used by bloggers and allows the individual to build the website with the minimum of effort while making it user-friendly always.Last but by no means the least, would be for the individual to organize the website.This process would involve the backtracking exercise to ensure there are no defaults that would cause the viewer to be put off when visiting the site.Learning to build websites isn’t the complex technical process a lot of people think it is. All you really need to do is come to our website and get access to 300+ Tutorials that show you step by step how to build a website, and so much more, and start playing around with building your own websites.Advertising Ideas-In order to stay competitive it is necessary to always be able to have fresh views and ideas to present to potential customers and target audiences. Without such innovations the website will become stagnant and outdated thus eventually causing the original high volume of traffic flow to thin out. Brainstorming is one way of gathering and creating new ideas that would benefit any endeavor.Some of the ways that can be adopted to bring forth interesting and innovative ideas at the brainstorming sessions are facilitated by encouraging the participants to simulate the mindset of the customer or the intended target audience.By doing this the participant are more likely to anticipate the needs and wants of the customers and target audience and design any changes to fit into this discovery.Bringing people together to discuss ideas at the same time and in the same place is also another good advantage the brainstorming sessions can facilitate.Advertising ideas and campaigns can be discussed in “real time” as opposed to having emails flying about which is less effective and time-consuming and even confusing at times.Brainstorming for advertising purposes, should ideally take into account the following points:Problem definition and identification should be done at the very onset of the exercise. With this clearly outlined, other factors can then be worked on in line with the initial problem discovery information.Custom designing can also be worked on within the brainstorming session, as the collaboration of views can contribute to finding the one idea that is going to eventually used to build the campaign around.Customer Service-Making a sale is only the first step is the relationship building exercise, which will eventually contribute to either the success or failure of any business endeavor. Therefore, it is important to pay attention to the customer service offered to cement the success rate desired.The following are some tips as to how to stay on top of the customer service exercise:Taking the customer for granted is the first and most common mistake most businesses make. This is especially evident when the business has expanded to now successful and comfortable levels. Often forgotten is the customers that brought the business to such heights in the first place.Therefore, it is very important to keep in touch with the customers so that vital information can be obtained about the current needs and wants of the customer.In the quest to stay informed and provide optimum customer service another point to consider and exercise is the importance of being fresh and innovative with ideas that are going to keep the customer coming back for more.When boredom sets in the customer will usually simply look elsewhere for the next new exciting thing that attracts their attention.Therefore, in order to induce customer loyalty innovative ideas should be a constant feature within the business.Happy Customers Are Loyal Customers-Training staff to treat each customer with respect and individuality is well worth the effort. Sometimes this positive treatment is the defining factor that keeps the customer coming back, even if the products are not exactly the best in the market.Having the protocols in place for quick and efficient responses to a customer’s queries or grievances, is one way of ensuring the individual stays a loyal customer and does not spread negativity about the business or product. Happy customers are loyal customers.In most cases it is rather difficult to specifically categorize businesses into specific service based styles. This is mainly because a lot of businesses tend to incorporate different platforms and strategies into the actual blueprint of the business format.However, there are some that can be clearly defined as service based business companies and the following are some of these examples:Types Of Service Based Business-Such service companies may include the likes of services provided by doctors, accounts, architects, actuaries, lawyers and other related fields.On a more creative side one may include the likes of services provided for by fabric designers, fashion designers, color scheme artists and many more as the list of such endeavors can be quite overwhelming.Most service type companies rarely have appreciable inventory as the purchases for usually made with the objective of facilitating a job thus the need to carry any inventory would not be necessary.Merchandising companies can also be considered service style enterprises as they to provide a service of sort to the customer base.However, this service is based solely on providing tangible elements rather than just the action of extending physical service. The generation of revenue is from the actual sale of the inventory rather than from the service extended.Manufacturing companies also come under the category of providing a service to the industry and the customer needs. In this scenario the products or items are made and sold within the company’s business entity thus ensuring monetary gains are derived both from the product and the service offered by manufacturing the product.All these different types of basic service providing entities are all in place with one goal in mind and that is to create the platform for revenue earning potential. Therefore, in order to understand and identify which would be best suited for the individual business owner, more research should be done to find the style that best suits the individual’s needs.OK, so I hope this article gives those looking to start their own online service based business a better understanding on what it takes to set up and grow a successful online serviced based business.To your great success on your online business journey, Bob

10 Alternatives To Getting Rid Of Your Pet

So you’ve had your dog or cat for a while, and your life is changing, and now you think you need to get rid of your pet. But are you sure this is what you want to do? Getting rid of your pet is a very drastic measure. If you leave your pet at a shelter, you may think he will find a new home soon. But it is unlikely. Many high-kill shelters must euthanize animals each day in order to make room for new ones who have come in. Some animals are only at the shelter for four or five days before they run out of luck. Fifty-six percent of dogs and seventy-six percent of cats in shelters are euthanized… many of them healthy, well-behaved animals whose owners simply didn’t have time for them anymore. Even in a no-kill shelter, your pet may be doomed to live out the rest of his life in a small cage if he is not chosen for adoption.
If you are willing to try keeping your pet, there are many things you can do. Lets look at some of the most common reasons why people get rid of their pets, and how to get around them.Reason 1: I’m moving.
Solution: Bring your pet with! A quick Google search for “pet-friendly housing” will show you many different directories of rental housing that allows pets. Here are just a few that I found: People With Pets, Pets Welcome, My New Place, Pets911, Home With Pets, and Dog House Properties. And pet-friendly housing is not just limited to those sites! Many apartment buildings and complexes will allow pets. You may have to pay an extra security deposit. But in the end, it will be worth it, to keep your pet with you!
Here is something else you should know. If things get really bad and you have no place to live, you still may not have to give up your pet. Pets Of The Homeless is a website that works to help homeless people to keep their pets, or find temporary homes for their pets until they get back on their feet.Reason 2: I can no longer afford my pets.
Solution: Call your local animal shelter, or food pantry, and ask about pet food banks. They do exist, and are becoming more and more common! You can even make your own dog food, which may be cheaper in the long run. (Its not difficult! Dogs can eat much of the same things we eat!) Your local animal shelter, or your veterinarian, may also be able to tell you about free or low cost vet care for your pets.Reason 3: My new boyfriend/girlfriend/fiance/roommate doesn’t like pets.
Solution: Are you really going to sacrifice your pet on someone else’s whim? Are you sure you want to date someone or live with someone who doesn’t like pets? That’s a pretty big lifestyle change to make for someone else. If you’re sure you want to stick with this person, work out a compromise. Maybe your pet can be banned from certain areas of the house, like the bedroom or the kitchen.Reason 4: My new boyfriend/girlfriend/fiance/roommate is allergic to my pet.
Solution: As long as the person’s allergy isn’t life threatening, there are many things you can do to greatly reduce the allergens on your pet. Keeping your house clean is a giant step. Dust and vacuum frequently, and use a vacuum cleaner with a HEPA filter if possible. You can buy an air filter for your home that sucks the allergens out of the air. A company called AllerPet makes a special liquid that you can wipe your pet down with regularly to get rid of the allergens on him. Sprinkling flax seeds in your pet’s food can also reduce the amount of dander he produces. The person may even be willing to take allergy medication! After all, many people have seasonal allergies and take medicine regularly. They don’t just get rid of the seasons!Reason 5: We’re having a baby.
Solution: Pets and children are a great combination! Most pets are perfectly fine around children, although they may be a little confused by the new arrival at first. You should always supervise your pet around young children. When your child is an infant, he probably won’t be unsupervised anyways, right? As your child gets older, you will have to teach the child to be gentle with the pets. Do not allow your child to pull your pet’s tail, poke him, pick him up, etc. Many people feel that a pet should be obligated to put up with whatever your child deals out. But that is not good for anyone involved! Teaching your child, from a young age, to be calm and nurturing around pets, is a great learning experience for the child. If you have a dog, you may want to do some extra training with him before the baby comes, to teach him not to jump up on you when you’re holding the baby, etc. Other measures may include banning the pets from certain areas of the house, hiring someone to come walk your dogs or clean up after your pets when you don’t have time to, etc.Reason 6: I have developed health problems.
Solution: Speak to your veterinarian, neighbors, friends, people at your place of worship, etc. You can probably find some volunteers to help you take care of your pet. Having a pet can be a source of comfort when you are ill. In fact, many studies have shown that people with pets have lower blood pressure, lower heart rates, and are generally more healthy, than those without pets. If your health problems are so severe that you must move into a nursing home, maybe you can find someone willing too foster your pet for you.Reason 7: My pet has developed costly health problems.
Solution: Speak to your veterinarian about this. They may be able to guide you to low cost veterinary clinics, veterinary schools that offer low cost treatment, etc. Many veterinary offices now offer payment plans for treatment. They may be able to help you find creative ways of raising money to pay for your pet’s treatment, too!Reason 8: My pet still isn’t house trained.
Solution: If your pet is suddenly having “accidents” around the house when he used to be house trained, there could be a medical reason. You may want to consult your veterinarian. If the house training has just never completely been accomplished, you may have to start over from scratch. For a dog, take him out more frequently and try to get him on a schedule. If you are not home during the day, and your dog is eliminating on the floor or furniture while you are gone, you may want to consider crating him while you are not home. For a cat, switching to a different kind of litter, getting a bigger litter box, or moving the litter box to a different area of the house, can help. Clean up accidents with a mixture of vinegar and water. This mixture gets rid of the scent of urine or poop, so that the pet doesn’t feel the need to “mark” that area again.Reason 9: I work long hours, and don’t have much time to spend with my pet. Its not fair to him.
Solution: While it may seem unfair that your pet has to spend time alone, it is still better than making him take his chances in a shelter! There are simple measures, such as providing stimulating toys for your pets, or leaving the TV on during the day, that can help your pet to feel less lonely. One nice thing you can do is buy your pet a special blanket. Sleep with it in your bed for a few nights before you give it to your pet. It will smell like you, and offer comfort to your pet when you are away from the house! You may also want to consider pet day care, or hiring someone to stop in during the day to play with your pets. Also, spending as little as fifteen minutes before you leave for work, just playing with your pet and spending quality time with him, can make a real difference. You don’t have to be a perfect owner and spend tons of time hanging out with your pet. He will love you the way you are… and again, it is better to be alone at your home than to die alone in a shelter.Reason 10: My pet has behavior problems. He bites/scratches/jumps on me, barks too much, etc.
You may want to consider a training class for yourself and your pet. Petco and Petsmart offer fairly inexpensive training classes. It can be a good investment! If you can’t afford this, then the library can provide books on dog training, and the Internet can provide websites with tips. Try Googling a specific problem you’re having. For instance, search for “teach dog to stop barking.” Spending ten or fifteen minutes a day working with your dog, and then consistently rewarding your dog for positive behavior, can make a huge difference.These are just a few of the common reasons why people consider giving up their pets. But remember, every problem has a solution. So, before you give up on your pet, please take some time to remedy the problems!

The Universal Law of Attraction – How Many Universal Laws Are There Anyway?

The 7 Universal Laws, the Law of Attraction, the 12 Universal Laws of Success, the 6 Spiritual Laws of the Universe… All those terms, one talks about 6 Laws of the Universe, the other talks about 7 Universal Laws, yet another talks about 12 Laws of Success, I’ve even seen people talking about 21 Spiritual Laws of the Universe, or rather 21 subsidiary Universal Laws. All sources of knowledge promise the same magic of manifesting and attracting all desires and dreams of people applying one or more of these Laws.Yet so few people are actually living their desires, dreams and success. Despite all the available knowledge about the 7 Universal Laws, the Law of Attraction, the 12 Universal Laws of Success, the 6 Spiritual Laws of the Universe and the subsidiary Universal Laws or Spiritual Universal Laws, there’s only a handful of people reaping the benefits that are promised to accompany the application of the Universal Law of Attraction or the interplay of Universal Laws in general.So why don’t all those people not ‘attract what they desire’, ‘manifesting their dreams’, or ‘achieving the success they’ve always longed for’? Even the hundreds of thousands of people who have seen the movie ‘The Secret’, or the documentary ‘What the Bleep Do We Know’, or read the ‘Attractor Factor’ by Joe Vitale, or the Laws of Success by Napoleon Hill, or the ‘Secrets of the Millionaire Mind’ by T. Harv Eker, or any other popular self-help or self-improvement book, movie, film or other resource? One reason is that there’s no such thing as “effortless attraction”. As much as you’d like not having to put in any effort whatsoever, there’s always a bit of effort involved. But that’s a subject for another time… But there’s another, very important reason.Here’s what the problem is. People can’t see the forest because of all the trees anymore. They completely lose track of the big picture. There’s just too much information about the 6 or 7 Universal Laws, the Universal Law of Attraction, the 12 Laws of Success, and so on. People don’t know which book, film, movie or other resource to pick. Are there 6 or 7 Universal Laws? Or are there 12 Universal Laws of Success? Or is there just 1 Law of Attraction? Or do you have to know about 21 Subsidiary Laws or Spiritual Laws or whatever?Who’s right? Well, in a way, none of them are right. Or all of them are right. It depends on how you look at it. Let’s set this all straight.The Universe is infinite. There are no boundaries, and no limitations. As humans, we are aspects of this Universe. In one way, we are the Universe, in another we are separate aspects of this Universe. This is not the time and place to get into the details of this, but if you want to learn more about this, scroll down and click the link in the bio box.The truth is that our lives unfold through the application of Universal Laws, among which the Universal Law of Attraction. We can do this either consciously, or unconsciously (as most people do). If you do it unconsciously, life appears to be a series of ‘accidents’, and the big bad outside world appears to be making things hard for you in achieving your success.However, as you apply the Universal Law of Attraction or the Universal Laws in general consciously, you can engineer your own success. You can set the stage for achieving your desires, and then act accordingly. The acting part is absolutely crucial, and this is where the efffort comes in. But what’s important for now, is that you need to be aware of the way in which the Universal Law of Attraction or the Universal Laws work together and the nuances of how they need to be applied.So, how can all different sources be right? How can there be 6 and 7 Universal Laws at the same time? How can there simultaneously be 12 Laws of Success or 21 Subsidiary Laws of the Universe or Spiritual Laws of the Universe?The answer is simple. Once again, the Universe is infinite. You can make things as complex as you like. Or as simple as you like for that matter. Make it more complex, and you can easily make up 21 Universal Laws, or 21 Subsidiary Laws. Make it a bit more simple and you can easily get to 12 Laws of Success. Or just stick to 7 Laws of the Universe. Every version may be potentially correct. What’s important is to what extent a resource is right for you.I always like to make things as least complicated as possible. It’s not that I can’t make things complicated. If you want I can give you at least 100 subsidiary laws of the universe, and call them spiritual or required to attract and manifest whatever it is you want. But that’s not going to help you. The more Universal Laws you need to remember, the more difficult you make things on yourself, and the less likely it becomes that you achieve all your desires and dreams.True enough, just knowing about the Universal Law of Attraction isn’t enough. There are some other Universal Laws to know about and understand if you want to apply the Universal Law of Attraction correctly. However, it doesn’t help you if you must think about a whole bunch of additional Universal Laws, subsidiary laws, spiritual laws, and so on all the time.You know, there’s a way around this whole mess of 7 Universal Laws, Subsidiary Laws of the Universe and Spiritual Laws of the Universe, 12 Laws of Success, every average Joe and Jill pretending to be an expert about the Universal Law of Attraction these days, and so on. You can just get yourself an extremely clear and straightforward description of just 6 Universal Laws, or Laws of the Universe if you like. One of these is the Universal Law of Attraction. The fact that there are only 5 others doesn’t mean that this resource is less accurate or comprehensive than the 12 Laws of Success, or the 21 Subsidiary Laws of the Universe, or the 7 Universal Laws, or the ’100 merry-go-round Spiritual Laws of the Universe rolodex’, or whatever fancy thing people come up with these days. There’s too much information, a too complex web of knowledge these days already anyway, so the last thing you need is an even more complex and overly detailed description of the Laws of the Universe.Discussing just 6 Universal Laws, or Laws of the Universe if you will, done in the right, clearest and most straightforward way possible, allows you to automatically cover any subsidiary Universal Law you or any other can possibly think of. These 6 Universal Laws are the main Laws of the Universe, or the main Laws of Success. By pulling the levers on these main Laws, you’ll automatically set the stage and create the circumstances for reaping more benefit than you can even imagined possible from your application of the Universal Law of Attraction alone.And because you don’t make things too hard on yourself by keeping things simple, you don’t need more than that in the form of 12 Laws of Success or 21 Subsidiary Laws of the Universe, or 21 Spiritual Laws of the Universe, or whatever. You can just cut to the chase, apply the Universal Laws and the Universal Law of Attraction in the right way, covering any potential subsidiary law, and you’ll create the life you’ve always wanted in the quickest and most straightforward way possible.Give yourself a break, and make things easy on yourself for a change. It’s been hard enough for long enough already. Apply the Universal Law of Attraction and the other main Laws of the Universe together in the right way, and start changing your life.This time for real!

Evolutionary and Philosophical Insights Into Global Education

I know that I know nothing – ipse se nihil scire id unum sciatHe himself thinks he knows one thing, that he knows nothing (Socrates)Education is learning what you didn’t even know that you didn’t knowThe word education is derived from the Latin term ‘Educatum’, which means the act of teaching or training or to lead out. In a wider context, however, it penetrates and influences almost every aspect of our lives, from birth onwards. Education affects what kind of people we and our families will become.Education is everywhere and it is supposed to be available for everybody. We can read, hear and see education and its diverse multi-cultural and multi-media implications and implementations in books, theatres, films and advertisements, as well as in kindergarten, schools, and universities, at work, all over the Internet and in all aspects of daily life. Across the world media are saturated with a variety of educational information, research reports and teaching methods.Our need for education is increasing rapidly. The basic need is significantly enhanced by the advancement of science and technology. In other words, advances in science and technology mean that the workforce needs to be better educated.
Educational systems worldwide are changing in an attempt to meet this demand, supported by governments and private providers.Meeting the increasing demand for education requires novel methods and sometimes unorthodox approaches to transferring knowledge to the next generation.The most significant changes in educational systems occurred during the last century although change has been continuous from the very earliest times.Education, religion and morality are the most significant components of human society. In this work the terms religion refers to all religions, as we will not discuss the differences between Christianity, Judaism, Islam or any other religions; neither will we discuss the influence of specific religions and their associations with particular ethnic groups.The discussion here focuses on the impact of religion and morality on education and on the relationships among them.Throughout human history religion has had considerable impact on our way of life and societies throughout the world have benefited from education and knowledge.Religious leaders are concerned about the increase in secular scientific education as they believe it may have a negative impact on religious faith. This concern is corroborated by social scientists who argue that educational and scientific advancement can lead to reduction or even loss of religious faith.My observations indicate that there is a clear asymmetry between biblical literalism and secular education. A biblically literate qualified person will not be as open to carrying out or accepting the findings of secular scientific research as his or her counterpart. In other words, a scientifically literate individual will be more open to, and accepting of biblical studies than a biblically literate person would be with respect to scientific knowledge and research.This asymmetry is obvious in many mixed societies, such as Israel. This observation also suggests that a person who has had a secular education is more inclined to absorb biblical influences than the biblically literate person to absorb secular influences.We face several problems when we investigate religion and morality, especially when dealing with the claim that there is a conflict between the two. It is sometimes claimed that morality is embedded in religion, or that religion is moral, but a moral education does not have to be a religious one.There are, of course, obvious differences between religion and morality, especially with respect to their objectives and aims. The purpose of moral education in schools is to nurture virtue and to start a cultural conversation about certain moral issues, which are part of our traditions.In modern times education has become dependent on economic and technological developments.However the essence and the meaning of life come from morality and religion rather than materialism.Religious leaders argue that without a religious component to education we might lose our ability to discuss virtue, love, self-sacrifice, community duties and justice. The absence of religion from educational curricula is generating hostility amongst religious groups and may come to divide communities and start unnecessary cultural wars.Atheism asserts that there is no link between morality and religious behaviour and that we should therefore teach about morality without reference to religion. Religious groups demonstrate by their practices the falseness of the claim that morality is independent of religion and therefore there is no need to distinguish between them. By practicing the religious beliefs, there are many psychological influences in the morality arena. In other words, endorsement of religious beliefs entails a specific perspective on morality.After my family immigrated to Israel from Hungary I attended the religious school at the Orthodox Chasidic quarter of Bnei-Brak called Wischnitz. It was a small village named after Wischnitza, a town in the Ukraine. The teacher, who was also the Rabbi complained to my father that I was disturbing the peace by constantly asking questions. I couldn’t accept the Rabbi quoting from the Bible, “Naaseh V’Nishma”, which means “first we’ll do and then we’ll hear and understand” or, in plain English,
“Just do what I tell you to do, explanation will follow”… I wanted the explanation first…History clearly demonstrates that there is a compulsion to bring religion and morality or the lack of it into politics and that this makes for a dangerous combination. One of the reasons for involving God in fights, conflicts and wars is to unite as many active and non-active believers behind one’s cause, whatever that may be.Let us illustrate this with a small-scale example. Assume that in a small village somewhere people have blond, black, red or white hair. The four hair colours are distributed evenly among the people of the village. The blonds don’t like the blacks. The blacks don’t like the whites and nobody likes the reds, so there is complete harmony…The only thing that unites the blacks, reds and whites is their religion; they believe in EGO God Almighty, whereas the blonds consider AGO as God. The villagers built two houses to worship these two gods.All the villagers have small farms on the same tract of land drawing from the same source of water. The blond men are more creative and invest their knowledge, money and energy in their farms, working day and night with their spouses in the fields. The rest of the village men are lazy, smoking pipes and playing cards; only black, red and white women work in the fields.One day two neighbours, a blond and a black have a dispute over garden pests.
It is nothing serious and it should be resolved quickly and amicably, but it escalates into a big fight involving some of the protagonists’ neighbours.The reds and the whites just smile, as they are not involved in the conflict and don’t like either the blacks or the blonds.The case is eventually brought to court and a jury composed of equal numbers of blonds, blacks, whites and reds is selected. During trial the blond farmer claims that snakes, scorpions and other pests from his black neighbour’s farm are destroying his garden, getting into his house and endangering his children. He says that he has several times asked his black neighbour to deal with the problem but that his neighbour just ignored him. To prevent the problem getting worse the blond farmer built a fence. Now his black neighbour is suing and asking that he be ordered to take the fence down as it disturbs the neighbour’s view and stops the neighbour walking through his yard as he was won’t to do.It becomes obvious that the judge and the jury are going to support the blond farmer’s case and so the black farmer plays his last card. He claims that he has been unable to worship EGO because of the fence. He also claims that the blond farmer not only doesn’t believe in EGO, but has also been cursing almighty God and that if all the blonds were to build fences this would make it difficult for anyone to worship EGO. Religion unites the majority of the jury against the blond and he loses the case.
As long as the case was a local dispute between neighbours about responsible farming, it could be resolved by the parties directly involved. However when it became a religious issue, it involved and united villagers behind their respective faiths. They were prepared to do a lot to achieve their goals, especially if their actions were supported by their religious leaders.I had a religious and conservative education, and later a scientific and secular education and this has led me to believe that moral education must be separated from religious education if it is to be rational, independent and free.Religion and morality should be taught in an agreed and appropriate manner if societies are to be healthy, strong and harmonious.The signing of the Magna Carta (Great Charter) on June 15th 1215 was an important education-related event. The charter was agreed between King John of England and a group of rebel barons as part of peace negotiations. It guaranteed that the rebel barons would not face imprisonment, promised them justice and exemption from certain taxes and payments levied by the crown.The parties did not honour their respective commitments and later the charter was annulled by Pope Innocent III, leading to the First Barons’ War.
It is interesting to note that the mistrust between the parties was such that the barons insisted that the agreement should be written. They realised that oral promises would not hold.These events took place at a time when the vast majority of the population was illiterate. The production of such a detailed written chart was therefore a significant achievement.Magna Carta, which was a political agreement, has become an international symbol of freedom. Its consequences can be seen in later English history, the history of the United States, and the modern world. It has been researched, quoted and used by lawyers and historians ever since it was written. Magna Carta was an influence on the American colonists and the American Constitution which was written in 1787 and became the supreme law of the United States.Analysis of the foundations of American colonial education in the seventeenth century makes it clear that the education system was significantly influenced by European teachers and intellectuals. This is not surprising as the early colonisation of America was mainly by Europeans. They believed that the primary goal of education was to save souls and so most education was based on the scriptures. The first schools to be established followed the Puritan tradition. Some groups of European immigrants tried to maintain their religious beliefs, morals and even their original language.Teaching was informal and performed within the family circle, usually from books and publications with basic references from the Bible.
The change from theoretical to practical and more up-to-date education began during industrialisation in the nineteenth century.It was illegal to educate slaves, but although this law was applied more strictly in the South it was not universally adhered to.Most schools were for boys only and girls were educated at home or in all-girls schools where they learned domestic skills such as sewing and cooking.
If one could read one could be a teacher. Teachers were using the Old and the New Testaments and students were required to memorise as much as possible. Bible knowledge was the measure of success.Teachers were responsible for inflicting harsh corporal punishments on all those who couldn’t follow their instructions.At about the middle of the nineteenth century education was enhanced by use of dictionaries and limited maps of world geography. The curriculum was extended to include certain patriotic and moral subjects in order to unite students behind American nationalism and instill in them a shared set of virtues.Two hundred years later there were significant evolutions and revolutions in the education systems of the USA.A lot has been done to improve the USA education but a lot remains to be done. The graduation rate should be higher, particularly among Black and Hispanic students. The number of dropouts is too high and at present too many students fail to graduate on time. Teachers should be more highly qualified and should be paid more to attract and retain better quality teachers into the profession.This is very important as the quality of teaching is one of the main determinants of educational success.In general, high schools should be responsible for educating and preparing students for after graduation studies. This phase of education is critical to students’ futures and to the future of the nation.Civic education is essential if future generations are to understand, be familiar with and cherish democratic values.The last decade has seen the advent of the Internet, social networks and other technological innovations and a decaying of our morality. Materialism is the new religion and the aim of education has become the generation of financial wealth. This has resulted in certain professions being neglected in favour of others. Subjects such as law and certain technologies are now favoured over social and moral studies.We cannot distinguish between money and education. Most of us seek to acquire an education in order to earn more money, which will enable us to have a better life. This is the logic which governs basic and intermediate levels of education; however a lot of money is required to access higher education at famous, affluent universities and institutes.This is one of the reasons for the polarisation of societies, the process by which the rich become richer and the poor become poorer.The rich and famous are heroes and role models, to be followed and envied; at least that used to be the case, today things are changing.Television, reality shows and advertisements are shaping the minds of our young children. The distance between parents and children and parental supervision has changed as well. The increasing availability of previously censored material such as pornography has a negative effect on our children’s development and their understanding of right and wrong.Certain forms of education or lack of education have a devastating effect on our society. Analysis of the origins and causes of violence, terror, robbery, murder and other crimes indicates that bad education, lack of education and ignorance are major factors.The porn industry requires ever-changing faces and employs or rather exploits many young girls, mainly aged 18-21 years or younger. These girls come from middle or lower class families living in small towns and villages; some of them have been abused by family members or neighbours, some are runaways and never finished school. Most of them spend only a very short period of time in the porn industry, but that short period changes the rest of their life for the worse.The economic law that where there is a demand there will be a supply suggests that there will be an endless supply of young girls coming to work in the industry.
Legislation will not eliminate this industry, but with the help of parents and schools it can reduce its size and power.Most social studies put the blame and the responsibility for those girls’ exploitation mainly on their parents. Involved parents, especially a strong father, are very important to prevent those girls to leave home. Parents should enforce appropriate rules and create an environment where certain behaviours are not tolerated. In educating the next generation we, as parents, must set the rules in order to preserve our beliefs and morality.It is acceptable and even predictable that we will have questions about everything we encounter in our earthly life. The love of wisdom or philosophy leads us to philosophise about our way of life, the many problems we encounter, our values, our existence and our possible future.The future is unpredictable; however, it is possible to guess at likely developments in the educational area. The application of technology to educational processes and models has the potential to revolutionise current educational methods.Implanted and wearable devices are another exciting application of technology. In the future, at a higher level of the scientific applications in education we may see nano-robots acting as teachers in higher education.Developments in genetic engineering may enable certain educational capabilities and maybe even knowledge to be embedded or engineered at gene level so that the individual is guaranteed to be smart or intelligent.At present we can only imagine what such technological developments would do to global educational systems and teaching methods.Unfortunately, when evil and ignorance meet we have what I call a social bomb. The nineteenth century German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche believed that evil had a negative effect on human behaviour. Evil is promoting those humans that are weak in spirit and it will suppress the strong ones. He claimed that evil arose out of the negative emotions of hate, jealousy and envy. Ignorance is often used as an excuse for evil deeds or behaviour which causes harm without justification. This excuse depends on the assumption that we are not responsible for our ignorance. Some would argue that evil is actually ignorance that is generated as a result of self-deception.I would argue that the only way to reduce threat posed by this ‘social bomb’ is to educate people in order to reduce ignorance and self-deception.I am worried about the next generation. Society must tackle the extreme inequalities between the rich and the poor, the educated and the uneducated and the increase in racism.Children of affluent or upper-middle class families do not have the necessary and expected motivation to learn. Sometimes they display a reckless disregard for education whilst also neglecting their physical appearance and health. Increasing consumption of junk food and lack of physical exercise will lead to significant health problems in the future. We are already seeing rises in obesity, use of alcohol and drugs and other health problems in young people. These and related consumption behaviours will have an impact on global warming and the extent to which the earth is subject to a greenhouse effect. We must educate the next generation so that they have the multidisciplinary understanding needed to save our planet, earth, which is essential to our future survival.We also have to improve our interpersonal relationships and accept the different and the unusual. Respect and tolerate all humans and living creatures: Love Thy Neighbour.

Addicted to Real Estate – Why I Can’t Stop and Why You Should Start

The All-Money-Down TechniqueSo how does the all-money-down technique work by purchasing a home with cash? First of all, let me repeat that I really didn’t have any cash, but I had a significant amount of equity from Terry’s home and several homes that I owned put together to give me a substantial cash down payment. Banks and mortgage companies alike will accept money from a home-equity line of credit as cash to purchase a home. At least they did in 1997 under the financial guidelines of the day. What you must remember about mortgages and lending is that the guidelines change constantly, so this technique I used in 1997 may or may not be able to be used in the future. Whether it is or isn’t able to be used again doesn’t really matter to me as I believe that there will always be a way to buy real estate with limited money down sooner or later. There will always be a technique to acquire real estate but exactly how that will be done in the future I’m not completely sure.I began purchasing homes in the Mayfair section of Philadelphia with the prices in the $30,000 to $40,000 per home price range. I would purchase a home with three bedrooms and one bathroom on the second floor with a kitchen, dining room, and living room on the first floor and a basement. What we call a row home in Philadelphia would consist of a porch out front and a backyard the width of the home. Most row homes in Philadelphia are less than twenty-two feet wide. For those of you who are not from Philadelphia and can’t picture what a Philadelphia row home looks like, I suggest you watch the movie Rocky. Twenty-two homes on each side of every block will really test your ability to be a neighbor. Things that will usually cause an argument with your Philadelphia neighbors often stem from parking, noise your children make, where you leave your trash cans, parties, and the appearance of your home.In 1998 my girlfriend and I moved in together and to the suburbs of Philadelphia called Warminster. After living on a street in Tacony, much like Rocky did, I really looked forward to having space between my home and my next-door neighbor. I told Terry not to even think about talking with the people who lived next door to us. I told her if one of them comes over with a fruitcake I am going to take it and punt it like a football right into their backyard. I believe I was suffering from Philadelphia row home syndrome. My new neighbors in Warminster turned out to be wonderful people, but it took me eighteen months before I was willing to learn that.So you just bought your row home for $35,000 in Mayfair, and after $2000 in closing costs and $5000 in repair costs, you find yourself a good tenant who wants to rent the home. After renting the home with a positive cash flow of $200 a month, you now have an outstanding debt of $42,000 on your home equity line of credit that will have to be paid off. When purchasing the home, I did not get a mortgage as I just purchased a home for cash as it is said in the business. All monies I spent on this house were spent from the home-equity line of credit.The move now is to pay off your home-equity line of credit so you can go do it again. We now go to a bank with your fixed-up property and tell the mortgage department that you want to do a cash-out refinancing of your real estate investment. It helps to explain that the neighborhood you purchase your property in should have a wider range of pricing as the neighborhood of Mayfair did in the mid-90s. The pricing of homes in Mayfair is quite unusual as you would see a $3000 difference in home values from one block to the next. This was important when doing a cash-out refinancing because it’s pretty easy for the bank to see that I just bought my property for $35,000 regardless of the fact that I did many repairs. I could justify the fact that I’ve spent more money on my home to fix it up, and by putting a tenant in, it was now a profitable piece of real estate from an investment standpoint.If I was lucky like I was many times over doing this system of purchasing homes in Mayfair and the appraiser would use homes a block or two away and come back with an appraisal of $45,000. Back then there were programs allowing an investor to purchase a home for 10 percent down or left in as equity doing a 90 percent cash out refinance giving me back roughly $40,500. Utilizing this technique allowed me to get back most of the money I put down on the property. I basically paid just $1,500 down for this new home. Why did the mortgage companies and the appraisers keep giving me the numbers I wanted? I assume because they wanted the business. I would only tell the bank I need this to come in at $45,000 or I am just keeping it financed as is. They always seemed to give me what I wanted within reason.This whole process took three to four months during which time I may have saved a few thousand dollars. Between the money I saved from my job and my investments and cash out refinancing, I had replenished most or all of my funds from my home-equity line of credit that was now almost back to zero to begin the process again. And that is exactly what I intended to do. I used this system to purchase four to six homes a year utilizing the same money to purchase home after home after home over and over again. In reality, the technique is a no-money down or little money down technique. At the time maybe I had $60,000 in available funds to use to buy homes off of my HELOC, so I would buy a home and then replenish the money. It was a terrific technique that was legal, and I could see my dream of being a real estate investor full-time coming to an eventual reality even though I wasn’t there yet.During the years from 1995 to 2002, the real estate market in Philadelphia made gradual increases of maybe 6 percent as each year went on. I began to track my net worth that was 100 percent equity, meaning I had no other forms of investments to look at when calculating my net worth. Generally speaking, the first five years of my real estate career did not go well because of the bad decisions I made purchasing buildings and the decline in the market. Furthermore, my lack of knowledge and experience in repairs made it a rough. The second five years of my real estate career that I just finished explaining didn’t make much money either. I supported myself primarily through my career as a salesman, but I could definitely see the writing on the wall that down the road real estate was going to be my full-time gig.Realty Professionals of AmericaI own an office building that has a real estate company as a tenant called Realty Professionals of America. The company has a terrific plan where a new agent receives 75 percent of the commission and the broker gets only 25 percent. If you don’t know it, this is a pretty good deal, especially for a new real estate agent. The company also offers a 5 percent sponsorship fee to the agent who sponsors them on every deal they do. If you bring an individual who is a realtor in to the company that you have sponsored, the broker will pay you a 5 percent sponsorship out of the broker’s end so that the new realtor you sponsored can still earn 75 percent commissions. In addition to the above, Realty Professionals of America offers to increase the realtor’s commission by 5 percent after achieving cumulative commission benchmarks, up to a maximum of 90 percent. Once a commission benchmark is reached, an agent’s commission rate is only decreased if commissions in the following year do not reach a lower baseline amount. I currently keep 85 percent of all my deals’ commissions; plus I receive sponsorship checks of 5 percent from the commissions that the agents I sponsored earn. If you’d like to learn more about being sponsored into Realty Professionals of America’s wonderful plan, please call me directly at 267-988-2000.Getting My Real Estate LicenseOne of the things that I did in the summer of 2005 after leaving my full-time job was to make plans to get my real estate license. Getting my real estate license was something I always wanted to do but never seemed to have the time to do it. I’m sure you’ve heard that excuse a thousand times. People always say that they’re going to do something soon as they find the time to do it, but they never seem to find the time, do they? I try not to let myself make excuses for anything. So I’ve made up my mind before I ever left my full-time job that one of the first things I would do was to get my real estate license. I enrolled in a school called the American Real Estate Institute for a two-week full-time program to obtain my license to sell real estate in the state of Pennsylvania. Two terrific guys with a world of experience taught the class, and I enjoyed the time I spent there. Immediately after completing the course at the American Real Estate Institute, I booked the next available day offered by the state to take the state exam. My teachers’ advice to take the exam immediately after the class turned out to be an excellent suggestion. I passed the exam with flying colors and have used my license many times since to buy real estate and reduce the expenses. If you are going to be a full-time real estate investor or a commercial real estate investor, then you almost have to get a license. While I know a few people who don’t believe this, I’m convinced it’s the only way.I worked on one deal at $3 million where the commission to the buyer’s real estate agent was $75,000. By the time my broker took a share, I walked with $63,000 commission on that deal alone. With the average cost per year of being a realtor running about $1200 per year, this one deal alone would’ve paid for my real estate license for fifty-three years. Not to mention all the other fringe benefits like having access to the multiple listing service offered too many realtors in this country. While there are other ways to get access to the multiple listing services or another program similar to it, a real estate license is a great way to go.Some of the negatives I hear over and over again about having your real estate license is the fact that you have to disclose that you are realtor when buying a home if you’re representing yourself. Maybe I’m missing something, but I don’t see this as a negative at all. If you’re skilled in the art of negotiation, it’s just another hurdle that you have to deal with. I suppose you could end up in a lawsuit where a court of law could assume because you are realtor you should know all these things. I don’t spend my life worrying about the million ways I can be sued any more than I worry about getting hit by a car every time I cross the street.