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Having a hair cut can change your look completely. It can be better or worse. Sometimes you will feel better when having a new cut or color. Here is the story of hair.

The mysteries of maintaining beautiful hair should have been uncovered by now, but for many women finding a simple way to keep their hair looking wonderful is as elusive as it was to women centuries before. The desire for beautiful hair is not new. Ancient Egyptians shaved their heads and wore elaborate, heavy, braided wigs to achieve perfection. European history also abounds with torturous hair styles including the ornate, powdered styles wrapped around frames and horsehair which attracted vermin. All in the name of beauty.

Today, fashion still influences a woman’s hairstyle but that doesn’t mean you have to subject your hair to needless damage. Take advantage of the tips below on caring properly for your hair.

Even though your hair is not a living part of your body, itstill needs proper care for optimum health and beauty. One of the key elements to having shiny, healthy hair is to allow the natural oils in the scalp to lubricate it. The hair closest to the scalp benefits from natural sebum oils the most while longer hair can become dry and brittle from a lack of these oils.

No matter what exotic ingredients it’s made up of , shampoo performs a simple job of removing excess oils, pollution and styling product build up from the hair. All of your hair needs gentle cleansing but it is the top two or three inches that is most weighed down with natural oils and dulling hair products. Concentrating the washing in that area will reduce the amount of oils removed from longer areas of hair which can be over dried from the stripping of oils and extended contact with shampoo.

Conditioning on the other hand should be used sparingly, if at all, on the top inches of the hair while concentrated on the ends. Conditioning is an important step to replace needed oils and provide protection from styling agents such as blow dryers and irons.

Your hair will look its most beautiful when you choose a style that requires the least amount of heat and product damage. Protecting your hair with conditioners is key, but choosing a style that suits the texture of your hair will eliminate the need for more torturous styling tools.

Frizzy and dry hair can benefit from the application of silicone based products. Bear in mind that a little goes a long way and concentrate the product on the ends of your hair.

When blow drying keep the blow dryer at least six inches from your hair to prevent excessive damage from the heat. Blow drying in the direction of the shaft (down the length of hair) will create a smoother appearance.

Anytime you use chemicals in your hair you should make sure your hair is in a healthy condition before applying the treatment. Overuse of these treatments can damage hair beyond repair and affect the results of the products.

Your hair will look shinier and feel thicker when you remove dried and split ends. Trimming the hair every 6 to 8 weeks will keep it looking its best.

Taking simple steps to maintain healthy hair will put you on track to more ‘good hair days’ than you ever thought possible!

Mary Williams maintains many websites about fashion, including Replica Handbag Secrets, Replica Handbag Guide ,and Wholesale Handbag Secrets.

Your purebred puppies health should be of utmost concern to you.

You want a healthy puppy that is free of parasites and on good food. Nutrition is very important- especially in the first year of life.

There are many diseases that the new puppy may come in contact with and it is these puppy vaccinations that help build resistance to the viral attacks.

Though there are multiple ailments and diseases, I will attempt to briefly list and discuss only a few of the more common ones in this puppy article. As always, puppy vaccinations are the best preventive method.

Parvovirus (parvo). This is a very serious disease. It attacks the intestinal system and is a viral disease of dogs. Parvo is characterized by severe, bloody diarrhea and vomiting, high fever and lethargy. The diarrhea is particularly foul smelling and is sometimes yellow in color. Parvo can also attack a dog’s heart causing congestive heart failure. Remember, without medical treatment, most puppies die from Parvo.

Distemper. This disease attacks every tissue in the body and may occur through inhalation of the virus in a contaminated area. Signs of the disease often resemble a bad cold with fever at first though the later stages may result in vomiting, high fever, diarrhea, convulsions and thickening/cracking of the nose and pads. Death is common and dogs and who recover may have future nervous damage. Simple puppy vaccinations are the best prevention.

Hepatitis. Spread through contact with contaminated urine or feces. This affects the kidneys and liver- often dogs will have high fever, lack of appetite, vomiting/diarrhea with blood, and depression. Often affected animals will have chronic health problems and recovered dogs will pass infected urine for months after infection. Again, vaccinations are the best preventive method.

Leptospirosis (Lepto). Affect the liver and kidneys and can be transmitted to man via contact with the urine of an infected dog. Signs such as vomiting and thirst, bloody diarrhea, depression, and jaundice may occur. Antiobiotic treatment is important though the best prevention is through vaccination.

Rabies. Transmitted through the saliva of an infected animal, rabies is another disease that may be spread to humans. The disease affects the nervous tissues and causes paralysis and death (always). Again, vaccinations are your best weapon against this disease. Below find a brief listing of other common problems of which you should be aware.

Kennel cough. Kennel cough deals with bacterial and/or viral infections in the upper respiratory tract. Symptoms of kennel cough are a constant wheezing cough. Highly contagious as well!

Other symptoms to watch for in your new purebred puppy:

Vomiting. Occasional vomiting is not uncommon but consult your vet if the problem persists or if blood, diarrhea or pain accompany the vomiting.

Diarrhea. Can be caused by a number of things- viruses, food, internal parasites, and bacteria to name a few. Contact the vet if the stool is bloody, continues for an excessive amount of time, or if dehydration occurs. Once your pup has recovered, return it to its food slowly and in decreased but frequent portions.

Constipation. Can be caused by multiple factors also such as insufficient water intake, disease or ingestion of a foreign substance. While your vet may have to take blood tests to find the cause, usually a diet high in fiber and exercise will help prevent this problem.

Not to scare you in any way, I do hope this information will assure you of just how important those puppy vaccinations are to your new puppies (and your) health. Proper immunizations are the best prevention in the endless war on disease and may save your puppy, and yourself, a lot of discomfort, grief and pain- and possibly even death. Here’s to healthy and happy puppy owning.

So how do you teach a teenager to drive?

When teaching a teenager to drive, you should first ask yourself if you do have the patience and the right amount of knowledge to do away with the task. If not, it would be much better for you to have another person teach the teenager instead. You could have your spouse, your friend, or a driving teacher to do the job for you.

Now, before you go ahead and teach your teenager student, check if he has a learner’s permit, license or any other requirement necessary for driving students to have. It is best to be on the safe side. You would not want to be caught by traffic enforcers teaching a teenager who does not even have a license or permit whatsoever. Then, review him or her about the rules of the road. These are mostly taught during the required classroom hours before they can actually get on the road.

Start by driving the car to an empty parking lot. Or you may also try going to a driving course. That way, there would be enough space for your teenager to work and learn his driving techniques. Then, start explaining the basic workings and mechanisms of the entire car. This should include everything from the inside to the outside. Do this before you actually let your teenager start the engine. Go through details about the car. Make sure that your student understands everything. Repeat everything if you have to.

After teaching him the basics and the theories, it is time to show it to him through a demonstration. Show him how everything works. Demonstrate how the lights work, as well as other part of the car like the seat belts, wipers, blinkers, horn, emergency lights, and transmission.

With the lesson done, it is your time to sit on the passenger’s side and have your teenager start up the engine. While he does this, point out how acceleration, braking, and the smooth transmission shifts feel. As he drives, point out corrections, warnings, as well as tips.

Make Infiniti parts shopping a hassle-free and satisfying experience for you. Auto Parts Discount offers the best prices to save you on your next Infiniti G20 parts or Infiniti Q45 parts purchase.

Joe Thompson is the owner of a successful auto body shop in Ferndale, California. This 38 year old is also a prolific writer, contributing automotive related articles to various publications.

NEWS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Phil Kraus - Maus Warwick Matthews & Co. Office: (910)
791-0400 Cell: (910) 262-8900 pkraus@InvestWithPartners.com

InvestWithPartners.com Expanding Real Estate Opportunities to
Average Investors - Commercial real estate partnerships no
longer just for the elite few -

October 19, 2005 (WILMINGTON, NC)…Phil Kraus, a commercial
real estate broker with Maus Warwick Matthews & Co. in
Wilmington, recently launched InvestWithPartners.com, a Web site
designed to help average investors pool resources to purchase
properties with significant income potential.

The combination of low interest rates and the consistent growth
performance makes real estate an appealing portfolio
consideration for those wary about gambling too much on the
peaks and valleys of the stock market. Many traditional real
estate partnerships require large contributions from investors.
However, Kraus is expanding partnership opportunities to include
investments starting at just $10,000, although some of his
partners choose to contribute $50,000, $100,000 or more.

“The boom in residential construction during the last few years
has resulted in a huge need for new commercial developments to
serve those communities,” said Kraus. “Investing in real estate
typically is an insider’s game for those with an expert
understanding of the market as well as the time and money to
manage those investments. InvestWithPartners.com evens out the
playing field to benefit investors at every level.”

Using his expertise as a commercial real estate broker, Kraus
identifies prospective properties and recruits partners to
essentially buy shares of ownership in these private properties.
Kraus handles the details associated with establishing and
managing the partnerships as well as the marketing and sale of
investment properties, so very little time or effort is required
by investors. Many of the properties are divided and sold in
smaller pieces, rented or redeveloped and sold with the goal of
making a healthy profit for the partners. And unlike many real
estate brokers, Kraus invests his own funds right along with
other investors.

“I only ask people to invest in properties if I believe very
strongly in them,” said Kraus. “Investors know that I am sincere
because I put my money where my mouth is - that is a true
partnership.”

RECENT PARTNERSHIP EXAMPLES 1. One of Kraus’s partnerships
purchased property that now is the site for the Wilmington
Executive Center near the University of North Carolina at
Wilmington. The partnership purchased the land for $1.8 million
and sold the property 18 months later for a 50 percent profit.

2. Kraus created another partnership to buy land in the Pine
Valley Shopping center for $4.4 million. Since that time, the
property has appreciated 50 percent and continues to realize an
8.8 percent cash return per year for investors.

More examples are highlighted on the Web site.

ABOUT PHIL KRAUS, SIOR Phil Kraus received his real estate
brokers license in 1978 and has managed land and income property
investments in Alaska, Virginia, South Carolina, and North
Carolina. After leading his own real estate operation for
several years, Phil joined Maus Warwick Matthews & Co. in 1993.
Since 1995, he has closed more than $97 million worth of
properties, with nearly another $11 million slated for 2005
alone.

Phil is one of only a handful of real estate professionals
certified with the prestigious SIOR designation by the Society
of Industrial and Office Realtors. He also is a member of the
North Carolina Association of Realtors, and the Wilmington Board
of Realtors. Prior, Kraus Phil served in the United States Navy
as a sonar technician aboard two nuclear submarines.

ARTICLES OFFERING MORE INFO ABOUT REAL ESTATE PARTNERSHIPS 1.
“The Private Investment Pool - Commercial real estate pros help
today’s investors dive into this growing market” - Commercial
Investment Real Estate magazine
http://www.ciremagazine.com/article.php?article_id=789

2. “Get Rich Without Leaving Home - A limited partnership lets
you be a real estate mogul and keep your day job. But do it
right” - MONEY magazine
http://money.cnn.com/2005/06/16/real_estate/real_estate_partnersh
ips_0507/

3. “Partnerships? Who me? Yes, you. They can be very profitable”
- Real Estate Investing Club Web site
http://www.reiclub.com/articles/partnerships-real-estate-investin
g

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The Basics of Plot. Although you will obviously be familiar with
the concept of ‘plot’, most people don’t actually think in a
plot-like fashion. As you write a book, the logical, compelling
step-by-step sequence that makes up a good plot almost always
starts life as a single good idea plus a jumble of images and
thoughts without any coherent structure. To create a bestseller
with a plot to die for, these almost random images and turning
points need to be assembled into a solid plot. Indeed, if
possible, they need to be assembled into a sequence that the
typical reader will assume to be the ONLY valid order!

When writing a novel, the most effective way to order your
turning points is the ‘plot card’ method. In its simplest form,
this involves buying a stack of 3 x 5 cardboard index cards and
jotting down one plot point on each of them. You can have as
many of these as you like. Doing it with paper and pencil is
feasible, although if you want to be professional about it,
software is a better route. the ‘PlotCard’ ™ online system
offered by www.GetPlotted.com is about
the best you’ll find, with facilities to order cards, assign
visual clues to them (such as icons for ‘inciting incidents’,
‘black moments’ etc), preview them in the form of a synopsis and
so on.

However you decide to do it, when you have enough cards, lay
them out in the sequence that seems most ‘natural’ to you. (If
you are using the www.GetPlotted.com Plotcard
system, use the little arrows to move the cards around, and
preview it regularly to see if it really does make sense as a
sequence of events). You can use blank cards as placeholders for
chapters that are currently blank (for example, how does your
hero find out about the villain’s weakness? Use a blank card and
fill it in later). Don’t be surprised if new ideas spring into
your mind as you address these blank cards. It’s perfectly
normal for a blank card to turn into 3 or 4 more as the story
grows and expands. The GetPlotted system allows you to add as
many cards as you need - just click the ‘new’ button, and use
the arrows to position it wherever you like. If you are using
paper and pencil, insert a blank card and move the rest up (or
down!).

You will also start to realize as you add plot points to your
novel that some of your original ideas may now be substandard,
and can be deleted. Don’t be afraid to do this! A good plot is
lean, and gets where it’s going in a direct fashion. If deleting
plot cards scares you, remember that you can always add them
back in whenever you like. On the GetPlotted system, a good
place to store these ‘dead’ cards is your ’scratchpad’. It can
hold over 150k of text - so don’t be shy. If you are stuck with
pen and paper, put defunct cards in a separate box in case you
suddenly decide to reinstate them.

Most new authors tend to try and run before they can walk -
using flashbacks is a common attempt t at this, and trust us,
you probably won’t write ‘The Usual Suspects’ first time out!.
Until you are comfortable with the process, it is best to stick
to standard chronological order, no matter what the actual
timescale of the story. As they explain on www.GetPlotted.com, it’s
important to continually address the ‘why’ of the story. In
other words, avoid randomness. If your hero has to be an
ex-football player, why? Is it just because you think it is
‘cool’? Or will he need to throw something 120 yards at the end
of the book in order to save the day? What is the REASON?! Same
thing applies to scenes - if there is no ‘why’ answer for a
card’s existence, why is it still in your plot? As we said
before, don’t be afraid to chop.

You will know when your plot is finished. That is the point at
which it seems to you that there is no other possible
arrangement of cards that is better, and where every single card
serves an essential purpose in moving the story on. When this
happens, you are ready to actually start writing. We’ll leave
that one for another day though!

As your website grows in terms of attracting more footfalls, generating more business, and providing more content; it will demand more time and attention from you to continue performing. As a businessperson, it is advisable that you concentrate on your core competency, which is the reason why you created the website in the first place.

It would be a strain on your time to continuously work on adding new content and design to your website. It will eat into the time that you would otherwise devote to activities such as building customer leads, obtaining orders, executing orders, coordinating with suppliers, etc. In short, it could affect your bottom-line. In order to avoid such a scenario, it is recommended that you employ the services of a websolutions provider, someone who knows his work. It could even be the person who has been hosting your website till now.

As the size of the database increases, so will the efforts required in managing it. A professional websolutions provider will be best placed to decide everything including the size of images that will load quickly, the best design to provide your website with the most appealing look, how to best ensure compatibility across browsers, adding meta tags to the title and keywords to ensure better indexing with the search engines. Professional webservice providers will also provide you with valuable suggestions and inputs based on their experience and expertise. This will help in ensuring that the pages load quickly and are structured in a manner to ensure clear viewing on different browsers and resolutions. Ease of navigability, addition of any multimedia features such as flash to enhance the user friendliness and appeal of the website are some of the important features that a webservice provider will help you with. It would be very difficult for a businessperson to juggle both sales as well as taking care of the website. Given that there are so many variables involved and the technology keeps getting better and cheaper everyday, outsourcing of your website creation, development, and hosting is a very good idea. If all the aspects of webservice can be trusted to a single webservice provider, then it is even better as the provider can holistically view each aspect before taking a decision. It will also work out to be much cheaper.

The outsourcing of the servicing and hosting of your website is to be preceded by a clear understanding on your part on what you would like achieve by opting for outsourcing.

The following points can be considered.

Your exact requirements, in terms of the look of the website, utility features such as Flash, Java applets, the level of visibility that you want on the search engines, etc.

The periodicity of executing each activity, for example the frequency of adding new content, checking for broken links and freezing on the deadlines for completion of each activity.

The cost of completing the project. Outsourcing the job to experts will always work out to be cheaper.

Breaking down your objectives into manageable portions will help you to execute each portion fast and also to understand the implications of its actual use on the overall effect of the website.

Author has been doing freelancing for many years, and can be reached at FreelanceFree.com. You can bid on unlimited projects for free and post unlimited projects and match them against freelancer portfolios.

Mexico is the land of fiestas. What this word means exactly is celebration but also to indicate a party or holiday. Mexicans will have a party or celebration for any or no reason at all.

I asked my wife, who had just finished a feature article on Mexican fiestas, exactly how many fiestas Mexico has. Her response: “Only God knows.”

When I tried looking into this, I found she was right. There are so many fiestas that I found it difficult to get any accurate list of all of them.

Here’s the deal: Although there is an official list of national fiestas, each little town, and even the neighborhoods in those little towns, have traditional fiestas that they celebrate. Sometimes they make up new ones as they go along! You never know and you cannot possible keep track of all of them. It is dizzying to say the least.

Try going to www.google.com and type in “Mexican fiestas” and then get ready for your eyes to bug out of your head. I got 67,800 hits for this search term. Yahoo will give you 134,000 hits. How do they do it? How do they find the time to celebrate them all and just who keeps track of all of themapparently, someone does!

For an example, here is what is on San Miguel de Allende’s calendar of fiestas:

January - Six holidays

February - Five holidays with one of them lasting 3 days.

March - Seven holidays

April - Nine holidays with two of them lasting 5 to 6 days.

May - Eleven holidays!

June - Nine holidays with one of them lasting 2 days.

July - Five holidays with two of them lasting 5 to 7 days.

August - A slow month with only two but one lasts 15 days!

September - Eight holidays

October - Six holidays

November - Four holidays

December - Four holidays with the Posada lasting 7 days

The mother of all fiestas occurs in our town of Guanajuato during October. It is the Festival Internacional Cervantino. This is an international celebration of the arts (some locals call it the celebration of the booze!) which lasts a whopping three (count them!) weeks! Can you imagine partying for an entire 21 days?

What I want to know is how does anyone find the time to do anything else but attend these fiestas?

What makes my head spin is that this isn’t all the fiestas. Each little town and even barrio (neighborhood) can and does have its own unique fiestas which it also celebrates with all the trimmings. You can walk through a particular neighborhood and see people setting up colorful flags and banners, tables for loads of food, and hauling in whatever they will need for the night’s festivities. Once you hear the fireworks going off then you know the party has begun.

The Spanish government, sometime in the 18th century, alleged that San Miguel de Allende was having “too many” fiestas. Now, what they meant by that is anyone’s guess and how it was suppose to be affecting the city badly I simply do not know.
Nevertheless, in usual Mexican fashion (the Spaniards should have seen this as a sign of things to come), a protest was organized and lodged, and the Spaniards repealed the allegation.
The point is that Mexicans love their fiestas and no one had better mess with them!

One of the most mysterious fiestas of which most gringos know little is The Day of the Dead. This is celebrated November 1 & 2 and is not a morbid remembrance but rather a festive celebration. It is pre-Spanish and has roots all the way back to the Aztecs.

I’ve been to some of these fiestas and all I can say, in agreement with the words of George Carlin, American comedian,

“One tequila, two tequila, three tequila, floor.”

Expatriates Doug and Cindi Bower have successfully expatriated to Mexico, learning through trial and error how to do it from the conception of the initial idea to driving up to their new home in another country. Now the potential expatriate can benefit from their more than three years of pre-expat research to their more than two years of actually living in Mexico. The Plain Truth about Living in Mexico answers the potential expatriate’s questions by leading them through the process from the beginning to the end. In this comprehensive guide, you will learn not only how-to expatriate but will learn what to expect, in daily life, before coming to Mexico.
BUY BOOK HERE: http://www.universal-publishers.com/book.php?method=ISBN&book=1581124570

If you’re like many of us and just have to have that suntan whether it’s August or January then you should seriously think about buying a home tanning bed. Home tanning beds are a great investment.

You can purchase home tanning beds online, from salons that are upgrading, from many retail outlets, and sometime out of your local papers classified ads.

The prices on home tanning beds vary depending on the make, model, age, and where you live. In northern communities that get winter the value of these beds tends to be higher than in southern communities that see the warm sun all year round.

A home tanning bed is wired to work with your home wiring. The stronger beds will require you to have an electrician install a 220 plug. The same type of plug your electric stove uses. It’s really quite affordable. The smaller less powerful beds will operate on a regular 110 plug.

What type of bed you buy is a personal choice that depends on the amount of space you have to dedicate to a tanning bed, how you tan, and what you want to obtain with your bed. Yes I know a suntan, but there are different levels of tanning.

Home tanning beds are a much nicer option than having to run to the salon all the time. Between the salons busy schedule and your busy schedule it can be a real pain to juggle. Not only that you whip in have your tan whip back out and you’re rushing the whole time.

At home you can turn your tanning session into a time to relax. Put on your favorite tunes, crawl into your tanning bed and breath deep - relax! Then you can hop into your own shower put on some comfy clothes and curl up with a good book or your favorite television show. Beats the heck out of the salon scenario!

How much you spend is up to you. But you should set a rough budget before you start looking. Beds are available in a wide range of prices depending on maker, bulb strength, bed size, and age. If you are on a tight budget look at older beds, but be sure to replace the bulbs so they are at their maximum strength.

Maintaining a tanning bed is pretty straight forward. You have the cleaning process to disinfect and remove oils from the platform so as not to inhibit the ability of the tanning rays to reach you. You’ll need to replace the bulbs on a regular schedule, and you’ll need to replace any parts that become worn.

Bulbs loose their strength fairly quickly. If a bulb is rated for 900 hours by 450 hours it has lost half of its strength. Now you can continue to use that bulb but you’ll need to tan twice as long to get the same results as you did when the bulb was new.

Home tanning beds come with various options such as internal cooling systems, built in stereo systems, and different types of bulbs. Some beds have special face tanning bulbs. If you’re not sure about a certain option you can always do a quick search online to find out more information.

Home tanning beds are large so if you are purchasing online you’ll want to make sure you know your shipping costs. Many of the manufacturers or dealers will ship a new bed for free so that might be a good option to pursue.

So if your tan is important to you consider purchasing a home tanning bed! Home tanning beds are available to meet everyone’s needs!

M.D. Stracener from Home Tanning Beds has been serving customers for over 20 years, providing valuable information to keep you beautiful and healthy. Please visit us at Home Tanning Beds

With so many different types and styles of bathtubs available
nowadays, choosing one which is perfect for you can get pretty
confusing indeed. It is not just a matter of choosing the right
color to go with your bathroom, or ensuring that the style is
correct, but a whole lot more. In order to make sure that you
buy a bathtub that is right for you, here are some things that
you should take into consideration when looking at various bath
tubs.

1) Functionality: Before you go to choose a bathtub, you should
be clear about your requirements. Do not buy a whirlpool tub
just because it looks so comfortable and inviting. Will you
actually be using the jets often and can you justify the added
energy costs as well as extra water consumption? While comfort
is very important while choosing a bathtub, you also want to
ensure that you will make use of all the features of the tub.

2) Size of the tub: A properly sized bathtub is an absolute
must. You neither want your tub to be so small that you do not
fit in it, nor do you want it to be so big that there is
unnecessary usage of water. While considering the size of the
bathtub, you also need to decide whether you want a one person
tub or one which can fit two people. If you like to get cozy
with your partner, then you may want to indulge and get yourself
a two person tub. However, if your bath time is a time when you
like to read or be thoughtful, you should go in for a one person
bath tub.

3) Color and style: While not important to the function of the
bathtub, the right color and style of the tub will make your
bathroom look that much more inviting. Bathtubs are available in
the standard colors of cream and white, but you can also get
different colors such as blue, brown, maroon, green, and pink so
as to match your décor. Shapes in bathtubs include the standard
rectangle, as well as others such as heart shaped, oval, round,
corner style etc.

4) Tub Material: The material which the tub is made of is also
an important criterion when choosing a tub. According to their
materials, tubs are classified as acrylic tubs, porcelain tubs,
cast iron tubs, fiberglass, marble, and wood. While a fiberglass
tub can be very cost effective, it may not be as durable as
porcelain or an acrylic tub. A cast iron tub can last you for
years but is quite expensive. Marble and wooden tubs can look
very attractive but are very high maintenance and will not last
you for very long. Thus, your choice of tub material will depend
on your budget, your frequency of use, ease of maintenance of
the tub, and its durability.

5) Soaking or standard: A bathtub is fast becoming very popular
with people because of its therapeutic value. By soaking in a
hot water bath, you can give relief to tired muscles and also
relieve painful cramps. A good soak can even help to reduce your
blood pressure as well as lower your stress levels, both of
which bode very well for your heart. Thus, if you are looking to
take advantage of the therapeutics involved with bath tubs, you
should look for a soaking tub and not a regular one. Soaking
tubs are deeper than regular models, whereby a person can soak
their entire body comfortably and not just the lower part of
their body.

6) Special Requirements: People who are old or those who have
some kind of handicap may often have to forgo the pleasures of
bathing in a tub as they may find it difficult to use a regular
bathtub. If you or someone in your family has such special
needs, you should consider getting a bathtub that is ADA
compliant. Such bathtubs are made in such a way so as to afford
easy entry and exit for the handicapped and the elderly. They
even have grab bars and grab rails for added protection while
using the bathtub. Some models can even be used by people who
are restricted to wheelchairs.

In addition to all the above, your budget is also a factor while
buying a bathtub. Another thing that you must do before making
your final selection is to actually lie down in the bathtubs
that you have short listed. This way, you can be sure that it is
the right size and also gives the maximum comfort, while having
adequate support for your neck, back, and head.

Hopefully, this guide will help you to choose a bathtub that is
right for you and your family.

The value of a service always appears to go down quickly as soon as those services have been performed. The value of any material object you buy may go up in value over the years, but the value of services always appears to decline rapidly after you have performed those services.

Power Negotiators know that any time you make a concession to the other side in a negotiation you should ask for a reciprocal concession right away. The favor that you did the other side loses value very quickly. Two hours from now the value of it will have diminished rapidly.

Real estate salespeople are very familiar with the principle of the declining value of services. When a seller has a problem getting rid of a property, and the real estate salesperson offers to solve that problem for a 6 percent listing fee, it doesn’t sound as though it’s an enormous amount of money. However, the minute the Realtor has performed the service by finding the buyer, then suddenly that six- percent starts to sound like a tremendous amount of money. “Six percent. That’s $12,000!” the seller is saying. “For what? What did they do? All they did was put it in a multiple listing service.” The Realtor did much more than that to market the property and negotiate the contract but remember the principle: The value of a service always appears to diminish rapidly after you have performed that service.

I’m sure you’ve experienced that, haven’t you? A person with whom you do a small amount of business has called you. He’s in a state of panic because the supplier from whom they get the bulk of their business has let them down on a shipment. Now their entire assembly line has to shut down tomorrow unless you can work miracles and get a shipment to them first thing in the morning. Sound familiar? So you work all day and through the night, re-scheduling shipments all over the place. Against all odds, you’re able to get a shipment there just in time for the assembly line to keep operating. You even show up at their plant and personally supervise the unloading of the shipment, and the buyer loves you for it. He comes down to the dock, where you are triumphantly wiping the dirt off your hands and says, “I can’t believe you were able to do that for me. That is unbelievable service. You are absolutely incredible. Love you, love you, love you.”

So, you say, “Happy to do it for you, Joe. That’s the kind of service we can give when we have to. Don’t you think it’s time we looked at my company being your main supplier?”

He replies, “That does sound good, but I don’t have time to talk about it now because I’ve got to get over to the assembly line and be sure that it’s running smoothly. Come to my office Monday morning at 10 o’clock and we’ll go over it. Better yet, come by at noon and I’ll buy you lunch. I really appreciate what you did for me. You are fantastic. Love you, love you, love you.”

So all weekend long, you think to yourself, “Boy. Have I gotten this one made. Does he owe me.” Monday rolls around, however, and negotiating with him is just as hard as ever. What went wrong? The declining value of services came into play. The value of a service always appears to decline rapidly after you have performed the service.

If you make a concession during a negotiation, get a reciprocal concession right away. Don’t wait. Don’t be sitting there thinking that because you did them a favor, they owe you and that they will make it up to you later. With all the goodwill in the world, the value of what you did goes down rapidly in their mind.

For the same reason, consultants know that you should always negotiate your fee up front, not afterward.

Plumbers know this, don’t they? They know that the time to negotiate with you is before they do the work, not after. I had a plumber out to the house. After looking at the problem he slowly shook his head and said, “Mr. Dawson, I have identified the problem, and I can fix it for you. It will cost you $150.”

I said, “Fine, go ahead.”

You know how long it took him to do the work? Five minutes. I said, “Now wait a minute. You’re going to charge me $150 for five minutes work? I’m a nationally known speaker, and I don’t make that kind of money.”

He replied, “I didn’t make that kind of money either-when I was a nationally known speaker.”

Key points to remember:

The value of a material object may go up, but the value of services always appears to go down.

Don’t make a concession and trust that the other side will make it up to you later.

Negotiate your fee before you do the work.

Roger Dawson

Founder of the Power Negotiating Institute

800-932-9766

RogDawson@aol.com

http://www.rdawson.com

Roger Dawson is the author of two of Nightingale-Conant’s best selling audiocassette programs, Secrets of Power Negotiating and Secrets of Power Negotiating for Salespeople. This article is excerpted in part from Roger Dawson’s new book - “Secrets of Power Negotiating”, published by Career Press and on sale in bookstores everywhere for $24.99.