Why should you consolidate your student loan

If you have just completed college, then chances are you are facing a mountain of student Loan debt, and may feel there is no way out. You may be wondering if there is a solution or end to this nightmare. One way of dealing with this situation is to consolidate your student loan. To consolidate your student loan to a fixed rate can be substantially better, reducing your regular payments by more than forty percent. It may also be possible to stretch the term of your payment hence reduce your monthly outgoing. The main disadvantage when you consolidate your student loan within the six month grace period is that you must start making your payments immediately. This can be extremely awkward if you haven’t yet a job outside of graduation. You can wait to consolidate your student loan just before the end of the grace period, and still receive the lower rates. But remember once you have consolidated your student loans you cannot un-consolidate them, so consider your choices before committing yourself. How is interest calculated when I Consolidate Student Loans? When you come to consolidate your student loans, the lending firm pays off your government loan and issues you a new loan under its own name. The typical way to determine the interest rate on the new loan is to take the average interest rates on all of the student loans, and offer a new rate that is an eighth of a percentage point higher (up to a maximum interest rate of 8.25%). Although agreeing to a higher interest rate might not sound like a good reason to consolidate student loans, this rate is fixed over the life of the loan, whereas the government rate will fluctuate. Since rates are at an all time low at the moment, locking in the current rates might be a good idea. Furthermore, many banks give you ways to bring down the percentage rates. For example, some lending institutions will drop the rates by as much as a quarter point if you agree to automatic deductions from a checking or savings account, whereas others drop the rates after a certain number of timely payments. As an additional bonus, there is no penalty for paying off your consolidated loan early. There are alternatives to consolidating your student loans. Before you decide to consolidate you should carefully consider them. Did you realize that it is possible to have your student loan cancelled altogether? Your student loan may be cancelled if you choose to become a volunteer for the peace corp., or work for the government in a low-income area as a teacher or doctor. Cancellation however, is not possible once you have consolidated your student loan. Another time to hesitate prior to choosing to consolidate student loans is when you are close to completing your payments. Increasing your payments and saving yourself some interest and the hassle of consolidation may be more advantageous.

Things you need to know about depression support groups

How many times has some one asked you “how's life?” Though this may sound like a rhetorical question, but in some cases it should be asked. Believe it or not, many folks struggle with everyday life. Perhaps you might ask yourself why. For starters, there are many possible reasons. Their anguish could concern a death in the family, a difficult separation, or possibly even the stresses of daily life. Apart from of the cause, the affliction should be treated immediately. This is the reason why depression support groups are so accessible in recent times. It's time to take life by the horns again, and get a grip on your somber emotions. Life is just too short to be wasted being miserable. Have you ever attended any depression support groups? These sure aren't anything to be ashamed of. In today’s newer generations, we can see our children are being faced with increasingly problems that may result in them being dejected or feeling alone. The answer to banishing this dilemma is through depression support groups. With the power of dialogue and understanding together, depression can certainly be dealt with. Back in the day when I was in high school, one of my dear friends suffered from severe depression after her mother died. Who could blame the girl? Sure this kind of tragedy can indeed affect one's childhood. At first she began to sleep a lot, and even avoided going to school as much as possible. Later on she took to drugs and drinking. At the end her parents checked into depression support groups and sought her help. After a while she was able to deal with her tragedy and move ahead. Although we obviously can't forget something so devastating, we can still look forward to living a wonderful life. It's all about dealing with it properly. A word of advice, you may want to look into depression support groups especially if someone you know is withdrawn from society and family. There are signs to watch for concern, these include sleeping all the time, not eating, nor wanting to leave the house, and even drinking or drug use. The above are all common signs of depression. If you have a child that fits that description, then it's time to consider depression support groups to be of assistance. Hop online and find depression support groups in your local area. The key here is getting assistance in time. There certainly is no time to waste. With the power of the World-Wide-Web at your very fingertips, you can get help for depression right now, and get back the life you can't live without!

Jewelry christmas gifts that sparkle and shine

The joyous season of Christmas is steeped in tradition, and gift giving is one ritual that is inseparable from this holiday. Who hasn’t had difficulty at one time or another in choosing a suitable present for a beloved family member or a dear friend? Fortunately, jewelry Christmas gifts are widely available and there is an endless variety of styles from which to choose. Twinkling and shining, they reflect the nature of that season to be jolly. Sparkling and glittering are two words that would describe diamonds. Browse through the World Wide Web and you’ll see a plethora of online stores that showcase jewelry Christmas gifts. Imagine a woman’s pleasure at the shimmering sight of diamond snowflake dangling earrings or a glittering diamond bracelet adorned with traditional symbols associated with Christmas. Men, on the other hand, will surely appreciate flashing yet tasteful diamond cuff links. Other gemstones make wonderful jewelry Christmas gifts. Sapphires or rubies set in gold, sterling silver or platinum will gleam subtly from rings or necklaces. Not all jewelry Christmas gifts that glitter need to be expensive, though. Whimsical and unique designs at an affordable price for the holiday season abound. For instance, brightly colored, rhinestone encrusted pins shaped like Christmas trees are widely available. For young recipients, bracelets, necklaces or anklets made from gold - or silver-plated metals, engraved with their names for a personal touch, will fit snugly in any Christmas stocking. Stores or web sites that specialize in vintage and antique items also offer bright jewelry Christmas gifts. Take your pick from pieces such as brilliant poinsettia-shaped hairpins or nativity-inspired pendants dotted with Swarovski crystals. For many centuries, men, women and children have been eagerly counting the days until Christmas morning, when everyone would rush to the Christmas tree to open their presents. The giving of gifts is a time honored tradition, and the selection of presents that will be appreciated and enjoyed by those whom we love is no trivial task. Scintillating jewelry Christmas gifts have always been part of that tradition and they continue to contribute to the glow that the holiday season brings.

Hardware and tools

There are many different tools and hardware that can be used in various ways. Some can be used on cars and trucks, and some can be used on machines, furniture, etc. Hardware can be placed on many different products, but the most common is furniture and cabinets. This includes kitchen and bathroom cabinet doors, dressers and many other types of furniture that may be in a home or office. Many tools are used to build furniture, which can be a very lucrative business for those who have the talent and the desire. In order to build furniture, a person will need tools like router saws, drills, and sanders. Sometimes these tools may require air in order to work, so air compressors are also essential to a furniture builder. Even individuals who work in other industries may need to use the same types of tools. Technicians in a tire shop use tools that run off air, requiring them to utilize an air compressor, as well. For example, the impact wrench comes in handy when they are trying to get the lug nuts off your tire in order to change the tire or get to the brakes. It would be almost impossible for someone to quickly remove the lug nuts from a tire without the use of these convenient tools. It is possible to do it manually with a tool such as a lug wrench, but how could a business be able to run quickly and efficiently without tools that help them save time? There is no way to do this without them, because customers would get tired of waiting and would leave to go elsewhere to have their cars serviced. Many jobs require individuals to use spray guns. These jobs include: Vehicle painting, wall painting, as well as furniture refinishing and repair. A spray gun is another tool that requires air in order to function. Saws help a person to create the correct dimensions for the furniture, and the drills bore holes into it so if can be properly assembled. Drills are also used to bore holes in order to place the hardware on the furniture. Hardware adds beauty to already attractive furniture. There are numerous types of hardware to choose from, too. The many diverse styles and levels of quality give customers a wide variety of choices. It all depends on how someone wants their project to look, as well as how much money they have budgeted to spend.

Tips on creating change in your life

What kinds of things help support us in changing or creating a new habit? Visualizing can be very compelling for some people. The clearer you picture your goal and how good you will feel when you reach it, the easier it becomes to make the necessary changes to get there. Affirmations can also help you reach a goale up with a statement as if you've already achieved what you wish. "I AM happy," rather than, "I want to be happy," and then repeat it throughout the day, every day until you are on your way. Having structure with others can also help you to change. If, for example, you want to get in shape, you can join a class at a community college for weight training, aerobic work outs, or sport. In a class you are given an outline of expectation, a schedule for working out, a finite course over a number of weeks and most likely you will have to keep a record of your workouts and your performance will be reviewed, which means you must be accountable to someone. It will be easier to stick with because you won’t be doing it alone. Working out in your own home has the convenience of location and time, but there is no accountability except to yourself and you have no company while doing it. If you’ve been having difficulty establishing a new habit, find a group or a class where you can join others who are trying to achieve similar goals. There are other things too, that can make it easier or harder to change. One is our image of our self and our abilities. Do we believe we will succeed, or do we expect we will quit? Can we picture ourselves (again the visualization) where we want to be, or are we uncomfortable with the idea of being there? For instance, would you be comfortable being wealthy, or would you feel guilty for having wealth when so many are poor? You will have to work out any issues you have before you will be able to comfortably keep a new habit or lifestyle. Sometimes a little change goes far to support making a big change. For instance, some men will grow a beard or shave one off and some women will change their hairstyle or hair color when they are mentally trying to create a larger change in their lives. They might shave a beard when they begin dating, or color their hair when they are trying to lose weight. A little visible change acts as a reminder that you are indeed changing and not quite the same person you used to be. Redecorating a room in your house or your office is another small change that can serve as a reminder for other changes in habit or new attitudes.

Consider a reverse mortgage as your last option

Home buyers often save rigorously for their home, forgoing expenditures and making sacrifices to pay down the mortgage and save for retirement. At retirement they get to enjoy their dream home debt-free. The only problem with this scenario for a lot of retirees is that they live on a fixed, and often not very large, income. One option is to take a reverse mortgage - a loan against the home, which brings you money while you still live in your home. You can usually borrow between 10 to 40 percent of the value of your home depending on your age. A reverse mortgage loan requires no repayment for as long as you live in your home and you will never owe more than the value of your home. This loan is different from a traditional mortgage in two ways. In order to qualify for a traditional mortgage, the bank checks your income to see how much you can afford to repay each month, but with a reverse mortgage there are no monthly repayments. With most loans, if you fail to make your repayments, you are in trouble. With a reverse mortgage, you don't have any repayments. Thus, the debt grows larger as you keep getting cash advances and the interest is added to the amount you owe. This is why a reverse mortgage is called a "rising debt, falling equity" loan. As the amount you owe (your debt) grows larger, your equity (the value of your home less debt) is getting smaller. You can receive income from your reverse mortgage in two ways. You can take the loan and invest it in an annuity. In turn, this annuity will provide you with income until your death. The second alternative is to receive monthly income from your reverse mortgage provider. Here you simply increase the size of your loan on a regular basis in order to receive income. There is one big downside to all of this - you still owe money on your home. The total amount you will owe at the end of the loan will equal the loan plus all the interest accrued. All the interest can be a substantial amount of money. Before you apply for a reverse mortgage, discuss your options with your family. Remember that a reverse mortgage will reduce the size of your final estate.

Is there something sinister about caller id spoofing

Spoofing refers to the ability to disguise the originating caller identification number when placing a telephone call. The calling party may select an alias or dummy number to appear on the called party telephone display. Proponents of this technology laud its uses for law enforcement and private investigators. They claim the technology protects agents from being discovered in undercover operations. Agents can freely make pretext calls to criminal elements by using caller ID spoofing. A pretext call is one that allows law enforcement to solicit information over the telephone by representing themselves as someone else. Caller ID spoofing is now marketed by a number of websites to any business or individual who wishes to subscribe to the service. Individuals can hide or mask the call origin with whatever number they desire. This guarantees anonymity. Collection agencies or government tax agencies often find it difficult to reach defaulters. This service could help these companies contact an individual using call screening. Critics of the caller ID spoofing claim that using this VoIP phone service makes it easy for scam artists to make it appear that they are calling from another phone number. Jokesters could masquerade their caller ID as The Oval Office, Ed McMahon or Paris Hilton. Hackers and con artists could utilize spoofing to break into unsecured voice mail boxes that rely on caller identification for authentication. For example, Secure Science Corporation discovered that hackers could use caller ID spoofing to break into the voice mailboxes of over 15 million subscribers of wireless service provider T-Mobile. The company scrambled to add an optional pin code authentication to thwart tampering. Criminal elements could utilize caller ID spoofing to reverse the tables on law enforcement, harass victims and break into interactive voice response systems that use the caller’s phone number as authentication. A child molester could contact a home and disguise number as a parent’s work number. An alarm company or emergency response dispatch could be contacted and reassured of false alarm by a burglar breaking into a premise. Methods and kits on how to emulate and display spoofed caller ID messages are now available on the Internet. Anyone with a general understanding of the concept and a compatible modem can construct a device that will provide caller ID spoofing. In the end, caller ID spoofing, like any other technology does have some merit especially for law enforcement. However this technology is very easy to use unethically and perhaps criminally. The lesson here is don’t trust caller id display. If you are unsure of the caller id information of a suspicious caller, take the number down, return the call or alert authorities.

Build interest with autoresponder messages 412

Build Interest With Autoresponder Messages If you are using your autoresponder to sell a product or service, you must be very careful as to how you approach your potential customer. Few people like a hard sale, and marketers have known for years that in most cases, a prospect must hear your message an average of seven times before they will make a purchase. How do you accomplish this with autoresponders? It’s really quite simple, and in fact, the autoresponders make getting the message to your potential customers those seven times possible. On the Internet, without the use of autoresponders, you probably could not achieve that. Too often, marketers make the mistake of literally slamming the potential customer with a hard sales pitch with the first autoresponder message – this won’t work. You build interest slowly. Start with an informative message – a message that educates the reader in some way on the topic that your product or service is related to. At the bottom of the message, include a link to the sales page for your product. Use that first message to focus on the problem that your product or service can solve, with just a hint of the solution. Build up from there, moving into how your product or service can solve a problem, and then with the next message, ease into the benefits of your product – giving the reader more actual information with each and every message. Your final message should be the sale pitch – not your first one! With each message, make sure that you are giving the customer information pertaining to the topic – free information! This is what will keep them interested in what you have to say. This type of marketing is an art. It may take time to get it exactly right. Use the examples that other marketers have set for you. Pay attention to the messages that you receive from other marketers. Start a ‘swap’ file, and keep those messages. Use some of the better sales copy for your own autoresponder messages – just make sure that yours doesn’t turn out to be an exact copy of someone else’s sales message! Remember not to start with a hard sale. Build your potential customers interest. Keep building on what the problem is, and how your product or service can solve that problem or fill that need. If you are doing this right, by the time the potential customer reads the last message in that series, they will be convinced enough to make a purchase! (word count 412)

Vocational schools in chicago

A vocational school is an institution operated for the purpose of giving the students the necessary skills to perform certain jobs. These schools do not aim to further a liberal arts education instead offer to teach job-specific skills. Vocational education being offered in the past usually focused on specific trades such as becoming an automobile mechanic or welder. Such training and education were then associated with the activities of lower social classes. As a consequence of this, vocational schools attracted a level of stigma. The youth would prefer going to universities and colleges for their education rather than at vocational schools. However, during the course of time, the labor market begins to develop itself into a more specialized market. More and more economies begin to demand more specialized skills from the workforce. Governments and businesses are now beginning to invest in the vocational education through publicly funded training organizations and subsidized apprenticeship or traineeship initiatives to provide for their need for more people with specialized skills. And also because of this, post-secondary level vocational education is now being provided by an institute of technology, or by a local community college. Vocational education has diversified over the years and now exists to provide training in industries such as retail, tourism, information technology, funeral services and cosmetics, as well as in the traditional crafts and cottage industries. People now have a wide selection of vocational training to choose from to personally equip them with skills for their chosen jobs. If you are looking for Chicago vocational schools, you will be able to find a number of them online. If you are looking forward to honing a certain technical skill in order to land a job, a good vocational school may be able to provide you with the education that you are looking for. There are vocational schools all over Chicago that offer a wide range of vocational training. There is the Chicago School of Massage Therapy for those of you who want to become future massage specialists. There is also the Cooking and Hospitality Institute of Chicago for those who want to follow a culinary path to success. The American Academy of Art in Chicago also offers vocational courses for those who are interested in graphic design, commercial art and illustration. There are many more vocational schools in Chicago that offer a wide range of training and education for those of you looking to improve or further advance their vocational skills. Such skill will be able to help you help you succeed in a chosen career that you choose to take.

The plain truth about living in guanajuato

Most of the books on the market dealing with the issue of expatriating to Mexico are fluff. I didn’t realize this until my wife and I got firmly settled into a daily routine here in Guanajuato that there was something those expat books on the market weren’t telling us. In fact, whether you read the books on “How to move to Mexico and live like the Queen of Sheba” or the vast amounts of online articles and websites, they all will pretty much be full of cotton candy and lots of sugar coating. We came to central Mexico expecting Nirvana. We thought we had arrived in Camelot. If this wasn’t a utopia, it surely had to be the closest thing to it compared to the United States. After all, Mexicans, we observed, seemed happy. They walk around laughing and smiling and seem like they enjoy life and are glad you came along to make their existences just a little bit better. We got a reality check. We got it fast and hard. The first thing we noticed was that Mexicans, and maybe it is something peculiar to central Mexico, do things in public that would in America get them shot, stabbed, or taken outside into an alley for a sound beating. If you were to move here, you would soon see how that at a store counter, whether it is your turn or not, men and women will elbow you out of the way and shout their orders to the employee behind the counter over you. It is like no one has ever explained to them the concept of taking turns in a line. I mean this most sincerely and seeing this happen daily never ceases to disgust me. The other day, my wife was standing in line for some tamales. My wife had given the order, paid the man, and the man was serving up our food on little paper plates. A woman simply elbowed my wife in the ribs knocking her away from the counter and began shouting her order at the server. This is not an isolated thing. It happens constantly. There you are, it is your turn, and someone, usually another woman, will act like you aren’t even there or are a piece of trash to be kicked out of the way. I’ve been yanked off buses so some Mexican can cut in front of me. I’ve been pushed, knocked off the sidewalk, not once but twice, and into the path of an oncoming bus that hit me both times. I wasn’t seriously hurt since I am writing this and not pushing up daisies. In every aspect of life in Guanajuato that requires lining up or queuing, the “good” people of Guanajuato are totally committed to disordered chaos! You should try walking down or up stairs. They come up in a massive, throbbing blob of humanity and seem not to know that there can be two lines on a stairwell: one descending and one ascending line of people. They honestly don’t seem to understand this. They go up or down the stairs in one gigantic throng with no sense of anyone else around them. And if you are descending the stairs when the Mexican mob is ascending they either all stop and stare at you or simply knock you down, out of the way, or carry you back up the stairs requiring you to start over. I was once in a drug store at the cashier when a young man grabbed my right arm and shoved me out of the way. Can you imagine the consequence of this event occurring in the United States? Knives and guns would soon come out and that would be all she wrote. I cannot explain this to you. We are fluent enough in Spanish to ask and have been told that these are “malcriados”—ill raised. But, here’s the thing: Those who tell us this are from other parts of Mexico where apparently they aren’t so “malcriados.” I do not know if this is true or not. I am writing this article because of an event that happened just this afternoon. My wife and I were trying to eat in what we would call in the States a deli. My poor wife stood in line waiting while the young woman served all the Mexicans first before waiting on my wife who was clearly there before all the Mexicans were. This has happened before to us. There is a restaurant here called “Truco 7” where the waiters will wait on all the Mexicans before bothering with the gringo slime—which is how you are made to feel. We won’t go there anymore because of this and I use my writing venue to discourage Americans and Canadians from eating there. This also happened to my friend, a retired District Attorney, who was told he and his date would have to eat in the kitchen because the gringos were not allowed to eat with the Mexicans. He was told this to his face. The owner didn’t like Americans and this is how they get treated—to the kitchen with you, gringo man. This was at a different establishment that is now defunct. I’ve written about this before and am moved to cover the topic again because frankly I expected more of the Mexican people. Some Mexicans tell me this is specific to Guanajuato and the surrounding areas. I just do not know. Some will say things like, “Well this doesn’t happen all the time.” Just what does that mean: “All the time?” How many times is too much? Is one act of anti-American sentiment acceptable whereas two acts aren’t? Are we talking about a matter of proportionality? Should we come up with some sort of scale that we use to determine how many acts of discrimination constitutes too much? You hit ten events and then you get to feel a little pissed but not before then? I am appalled at any act of discrimination, any time, any amount, and in any fashion. Percentages do not count when it comes to this sort of thing, don’t you think? So far, I’ve been: · Pushed off the sidewalk twice and in the path of a bus that hit me both times. · Yanked off of the first step of a bus twice. · Pushed out of the way in a drug store once. · I’ve been passed up by cabs and buses so many times I cannot count. They will stop if a Mexican is with me but rarely when I am alone. · I’ve been passed up in restaurants while the waiter helped Mexican clients who came into the place long after I did. And, really this happens so often that I tend to lose track of how many events. I’m thinking about collecting the stories from the other American expats here for a chapter in a new book. The closest thing I can compare it to that makes any sense is that the people of Guanajuato, especially when on the street walking with them, appear to be functional autistics. If you’ve ever worked with the population of the disabled you know what I mean. You are just a thing to knock out of the way, climb over, ignore, or go through like you aren’t even there. I cannot get a grip on this with any other explanation. It as though you do not exist. Invisible. I have emails from other Mexicans from other less “provincial” parts of Mexico who have reported the same observations about their fellow Mexicans in Guanajuato. What am I going to do? I don’t know. But maybe, just maybe, this is part of the adventure. What I do know is that as a writer I will never present an unrealistic, Pollyanna view of what it’s like to live in Mexico as an American expat. That much I do know.

World of warcraft horde guide using joana s guide optimally

I'm not some twelve-year old kid on summer vacation or a retiree with way too much time on his hands. I'm a full-time, full-family, full - well, I'm just full! I don't have much time in the day to spend on myself so when the opportunity arises I make sure I don't squander it. If I'm lucky enough to get that time playing World of Warcraft, I find that using a guide like Joana's Horde Guide is a must. Now don't get me wrong, I love experiencing things on my own at first. I didn't use any help in the first year of playing World of Warcraft and sometimes it was difficult. It took me forever just to get out of my rag clothing and it was a painfully slow progression, but I did gain a greater sense of accomplishment doing it on my own. However, these days, if I've wasted an hour just trying to find a "Ghostclaw Lynx" and all I see are "Springpaw Lynx", I'm wasting my time (time that, again, is very precious to me). If I'm lost on a quest, I save the frustration and reach for Joana's Horde Guide and the problem is solved. Most of the time, I find that I was completely off from where I should have been and would have just wasted more time (and probably would have damaged a keyboard along the way). Quests can be confusing and sometimes being befuddled in World of Warcraft is simply a matter of being lost in the grand world of Azeroth. In the grand size of this game, one thing has probably become very clear to you: you will be spending many minutes a day simply running around, flying around, riding around, and galloping around (and did I mention running around?). I don't even want to know how much time I've spent on my highest-level characters just on transportation. This is where a guide can be very helpful. My absolute favorite thing about using Joana's Horde Guide is the efficiency of it. The guy who wrote it has made many level 60 characters in record time (4 days and 20 hours to be exact) so he lists exactly where you need to go, how you need to do it, and most importantly, the best ways to get around. Trust me when I say that nothing will get you to level 70 faster than knowing the best ways to get from point A to point B without backtracking all over Blizzard's green earth. Speaking of backtracking, have you ever started a new character in the same area that you've done before, only to not even remember how to do some of the quests you've completed once, twice, or more? I'm no spring chicken and maybe memory really is the first thing to go, but I don't want to "explore" things that I've already explored. If I want to try playing a Blood Elf Priest and I've already played a Blood Elf Rogue, I can pick up Joana's Horde Guide and get my new character leveled up ultra fast by sidestepping my exploring side and instantly gratifying my must-get-one-more-level side. That one-more-level feeling is what makes World of Warcraft so addictive. Likewise, sometimes the feeling of hopelessness in reaching your next level is what makes a guide like Joana's Horde Guide so necessary. If you're short on time in the real world but you know your way around World of Warcraft you won't be disappointed in getting a good guide like this. And if you're looking for the most efficient way to power level your second, third, or thirtieth character to the top, Joana's Horde Guide will give you the gift of getting there in record time.