Digi-Journal

There are lots of people considering new career opportunities and the opportunity to improve their situation through education. Getting an associates in golf is certainly one way to do this. Keiser University offers an associates degree for those interested in pursuing and career in the golf industry. Here’s the Vice President of the college of golf discussing some of the possiblities.

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No one likes it when someone passes away, but we all know that it is a fact of life.  Unfortunately for me, my mother passed away suddenly in her sleep.  She was in good health, but had an aneurism, so the shock of her departure from this world affected everyone in our family.

Since I was named the executor of her estate, it is my responsibility to carry out the wishes of her will.  It isn’t the best situation to be in because of the grief that I am feeling, but mother thought I would be up to it, so I will do it to the best of my ability.

Her will stated that everything that she owned was to be sold and the money divided between us four kids.  For the most part I knew that it was going to be relatively easy, but I wasn’t too sure about my mother’s jewelry collection.

She had quite an extensive collection, and I wasn’t sure about how to sell the gold jewelry for a reasonable price.  Truth be told, I had no idea what the value was of any of her jewelry.

I am going down to a store in town tomorrow to get the collection of jewelry appraised so I have an idea of what it is worth and then I’ll have to find a buyer.  I didn’t realize that being an executor was going to be so much work.

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Since this year has been really rough in terms of trying to sell real estate, I decided that I was going to try something different.  I knew that there had to be a way for me to have my properties stand out from the crowd and entice buyers to come take a look.

But it took awhile to come up with something unique I could do that wouldn’t take a large cash investment.  I was struggling enough as it is, and though I did want to be different, I didn’t want to have to end up in bankruptcy because of it.

In the end, I settled on some custom banner stands that would allow me to hang a large picture of the interior design of the home that I was selling.  I thought that if the prospective buyer would get a glimpse of what they would see inside the home that I would entice them to call and make an appointment for a viewing.

As it turns out, the last half of the year saw an increase in home showings by nearly fifty percent, and the number of new homes that I sold increased over last year by ten percent even though the market was in a slump.

Needless to say, trying something different ended up being profitable for me and I am very thankful for that.

Technorati Tags: banner stands, realtor

Merry Christmas to everyone! I adore the holiday season but I can’t help noticing how much waste there is at Christmas time. Trees that don’t get replanted or recycled, wrapping paper that gets thrown away after one use and other such common holiday sights make me a little bit sad.

To combat that sadness I’ve come up with a list of my green goals for the new year. I have many small goals that I want to accomplish in 2010 but there are two major green goals that I am aiming to make sure really happen this year:

1. Compost! I kept saying all year long that I was going to compost. I waste way more food than I should. I tend to over-purchase produce and then have to get rid of it. I’m trying to get better about that but at least if I compost it won’t completely go to waste.
2. Get my LEED certification. I want to do LEED training early this year so that I can get my LEED certification. I really want to get better at implementing green business practices in my small business and these classes would teach me how to do that.

I am enjoying Christmas but I also think it’s a good time to set some green goals for next year since it’s such a wasteful holiday. What do you think about this?

Technorati Tags: leed certification, leed training

Many people are suffering from hearing loss and do not even realize it. If you catch the problem early on then you can get help from an audiologist to diminish the impact that it has on you.

Here are five signs that you might have a hearing problem:

1. You regularly ask people to repeat what they are saying. If you find yourself constantly asking “what?” when you are speaking to people then you might be losing your hearing.
2. People frequently tell you that the music or television that you are listening to is too loud. If people turn the TV on and the volume you had it on last makes them cringe but you think it’s a normal volume then you might have a hearing problem.
3. Get weird looks when you say things. You might be mis-hearing what’s being said and therefore responding inappropriately.
4. Experience pain or ringing in your ears. This isn’t normal so get it checked out!
5. You catch yourself reading hearing aid reviews or news. If you find yourself looking up stuff about hearing loss then your subconscious mind may be telling you that there’s a problem that needs to be checked out.

If you think you have a hearing problem then make an appointment with an audiologist to find out what’s going on.

Technorati Tags: audiologist, hearing aid reviews

You would think that everyone who has a medical degree has been an intern before wouldn’t you? The truth of the matter is though that there are a lot of different types of medical degrees that people can get and not all of those degrees require an internship to be completed prior to graduation. Even students who aren’t required to intern should do so before completing their degrees.

Ideally all students (in any field) should do an internship before graduating. However it’s particularly important for medical students because the work that they do for others is such important work. You need to get hands-on experience to know if you are going to be cut out for the job.

Many students of certificate and associates programs don’t have to get online degrees. For example, students of transitional dpt programs or physician assistant programs may or may not have to complete an internship before being awarded their graduate certificates. If you find yourself in one of these programs then definitely ask the teachers there about the internship opportunities that are available to you. Either you’ll discover that you enjoy the work and are good at it or you’ll realize that you need to do something else with your life. Either way, you and your future patients both benefit.

Technorati Tags: physician assistant programs, transitional dpt programs

The committee that oversees the Olympics in Italy has just banned a former Olympic cyclist from participating in their events for at least twenty years. (Of course this is effectively a permanent ban since it is unlikely that he would be in a competitive position after that much time has passed.) The reason that he has been banned is because he was caught selling hgh supplements to two amateur cyclists.

The Olympics committee takes the use and sale of performance enhancing drugs very seriously. This is not because of any problems or side effects of hgh. Instead it is because these drugs are very effective at boosting your athletic talent and the Olympics are supposed to be all about the athletic prowess that you exhibit without any help except your own hard work.

The cyclist, Giannia de Ros, was not the only person charged in this incident. There were ten other cyclists that were also punished for various amounts of time due to their involvement in the trafficking of hgh. It is easy to see why it’s so tempting to use this type of product in a setting like this since it can so successfully improve your speed and strength but since it’s not allowed at the Olympics it’s not worth it for people who are competing at this level.

Technorati Tags: hgh supplements, side effects of hgh

There once was a time when the most popular type of lighting was fluorescent light bulbs. Although these are still popular we’re now seeing a lot of people switch and take a stronger interest in sodium vapor lamps. What exactly is a sodium vapor lamp?

A sodium vapor lamp actually uses sodium to produce light. The main reason that these lamps are appealing is because they have a low level of light pollution. In regions where there is a big emphasis on astronomy and the study of the skies from observatories you will find that a lot of businesses have switched over to sodium vapor lamps.

There are actually two types of sodium vapor lamps. One type uses low pressure sodium and the other uses high pressure sodium. High pressure sodium is a smaller lamp that uses other elements in it like mercury. Low pressure sodium is the type that is preferred in the areas that are concerned about light pollution for reasons relating to astronomy.

Both types of sodium vapor lamps are becoming popular. They are not replacing fluorescent lights. They are merely adding on to the spectrum of lighting options that we have at our disposal. It will be interesting to see what new lights emerge as technology continues to advance.

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…is the quality of pictures the blogger has.  Pictures add a visual aspect that makes it easier for readers to get something out of your blog.  Online readers are notorious for skimming rather than reading something in detail, and pictures often make this easier to do.

There are a lot of different ways to get good pictures for you blog.  If you just need standards photos to illustrate a point, stock photos are often a good way to go.  You can usually find stock photos for fairly inexpensive (blogger-affordable) prices, or you can use photos that are in the public domain.

Despite what many people think, not everything that appears online is in the public domain.  The public domain is essentially everything that is not restricted by copyright — either because it’s too old, or because the copyright holder (usually the photographer or artist) has voluntarily given up their rights to the work.  There are plenty of websites where you can get copyright free images, but if you are not sure, it is always safer to ask the artist or photographer.

Sometimes the better and safer way to get images is to take them yourself.  If you blog about something such as your pets or your current craft projects, this will be fairly easy to do — and make more sense than using someone  else’s images, anyway.  But you can also take this approach if you plan your blog posts out ahead of time.

You don’t need a fancy camera — just a little point and shoot will do.  Speaking from experience, do be sure that you have a good protective camera case.  Good camera bags offer padding as protection from the camera getting dropped or bumped when you carry it around.  Since you will get the best pictures if you keep your camera with you at all times, to always have it if you happen to spot a good shot, it is important to ensure your camera is protected.

Taking pictures for your blog can be a lot of work, but you’ll find that it’s rewarding and the pictures make your blog more interesting.  Good luck!

Technorati Tags: camera bags, camera case, copyright free, public domain

I recently started spending a lot of time on Meetup.com. This is a social networking site designed to actually allow you to meet people in real life. It is not a dating site. It’s just a site for people who want to get together with other adults to do activities that interest them.

I joined several groups that are related to travel. A few of them are actually supposed to be for people who want to travel together. However most of them are just for people who love to travel and who love to talk about travel. My favorite one is a group called Food and Travel Chats. We get together at a variety of great San Francisco restaurants and talk about our favorite places to travel.

I’ve gained a lot of great information from this group. I’ve learned about the cheapest things to do in Chicago, the best trails to hike throughout California and the top destinations to consider when planning a trip to Central America. More importantly, though, I’ve gained new friends. I’ve found a community of people who have interests that are similar to mine. I don’t know if we’ll become life long buddies but I do know that I’m happy to have found this group for now.

Technorati Tags: San Francisco restaurants, things to do in Chicago