tigra

You've got a point. I'm never in a position to eat or drink while my hair is being done. Maybe during a pedicure, but drinking a beer while your feet are soaking in warm water doesn't sound all that smart either! Still, if you are sitting around waiting, and they're already offering wine, coffee and water, why not beer?

Do they still have a Swiss Army knife shop there? When I was there 20 years ago, I stayed in the coolest youth hostel (Balmers?) and dropped my knife off. (I think Lets Go suggested it?) They cleaned and sharpened it, then delivered it back to the youth hostel for me. I just thought that was soooo cool!

You go to a skydiving site and ask about beer? Isn't that what you call a rhetorical question?

OK, landing in the woods, panicking, etc- not necessarily good BUT it sounds like in the end your training did kick in and you weren't hurt. (I'm pretty sure that's exactly what you're supposed to do in the event of a tree landing!) That IS a good thing. In spite of a bad situation and possibly some poor decisions, you did save your own ass. Not bad for your 2nd AFF!

I agree about Amsterdam. I was there a LONG time ago and the Heineken tours started at 9:00am! That was way too early for me to start drinking beer! The coffee shops are a definite must if you're into that sort of thing! I didn't do the Heinekin tour, but when we were in Denmark, we did an afternoon tour of the Tuborg factory. Loads of fun, great beer, and Denmark was beautiful!

Stressing, but you're going to get "caught" anyway so you might as well fess up!

The toilets at my dz usually take at least 2 flushes to clear and you have to wait for it to fill before you can flush again- and that's just for something "normal"! I always check and I always wait! A public toilet that wasn't working properly, I might sneak away, but in a friend's home??

Mine is also supposed to wake you more naturally, starting with a soft light that gets brighter and bird sounds (which annoy me so that part is turned way down) all starting about 20 minutes before the alarm actually goes off. You can even put these aroma therapy beads in the slot above the light bulb. Good theory, but it doesn't help me get out of bed any quicker!

Funny you should ask. The guy I bought my house from installed one between the screen door and the main door. It works just fine, but no one knows its there. He left the old one (and I haven't bothered to take it out either) on the outside of the screen and even though its taped over, people try to use that! This post reminds me of the Doorbell song. "I'm thinking 'bout my doorbell, when you gonna ring it, when you gonna ring it?!"

I've often wondered about it! I'm not a morning person and I'm a notorious snoozer! The thing is I can toss and turn all night and once that alarm goes off, it takes NOTHING for me to fall asleep! Right now, the alarm isn't even in my bedroom, and I still get up, hit snooze and climb back into bed at least once!

That sounds fair! I'm sure you can find it at any Sears or Penney's! (or in your mom's underwear drawer!) I just assumed they would do the finale the same way they do the weekly eliminations- or at least similar. There's no real integrity with the voting system anyway- they TELL you its how the public voted but how do we know that's true? Its not like the votes are tabulated by some high profile accounting firm, right?

That outfit was so bad its like she lost a bet or something! Yeah, Carmen probably did think it was funny. You've got the beer if Marty wins! I do like him, I just thinks he's all wrong for them. And there is a fine line between taking and working with constructive criticism and compromising your musical integrity. So far he hasn't crossed over, but if INXS tries to force him into their mold, he will. And I thought the band WAS making the final decision, sort of like they do every week. Is it really supposed to be 100% on the viewers votes?

I half expected them to annouce a pajama party theme and have all the "rockers" in sleepwear too!

I agree about the whoe growth vs. conformity issue. There's a difference. And Suzie is finding her own- at least week after week she's grown on me. I still think Marty is 100% wrong for them, but I really did love his original song. Truth is, at this point its all about ratings. They've seen more than enough to make a decision. Oh, and WTF was Brooke wearing last night? Looked like a shorty night gown, and not even a very nice or sexy one! More like the kind you can find on the clearance rack at JC Penneys or Sears!

I avoided the show at first, but dayum, its a lousy TV season! I clicked on and started watching when there was nothing else on, now I make a point to watch it. I don't disagree with you though, AND to add to what you said, I find the show to be a bit ghoulish. Even Dave Navarro is bordering on hasbeen land, so between him and the remaining members of INXS its like they are feeding off this new young talent and hoping somehow to regain some of their old glory. I'm still watching, and for some reason actually care about who wins!

JD's song? Nope- I didn't even watch that episode. The song is just so typical 80s glam rock. Heard it before and I didn't like it then. And Jordis? Maybe the pressure is getting to her. Who knows? Its getting close, and up until 2 weeks ago, she was definitely one of the front runners. I imagine the whole thing is pretty intimidating, especially for someone that young. I love her voice and I actually think it could work for INXS, might even be exactly what they need- new blood and a new direction. And wasn't Michael Hutchens a geeky introvert when he wasn't on stage? At this point, I think Mig's got it, but I also never thought they would let Ty go last week. If JD wins, I doubt I'll ever buy another INXS cd!

They had every opportunity to get rid of JD last week after two really crappy performances. They kept him anyway! Still, I hope you are right!

The standard split is 50/50, although some listing brokers also tack on a processing fee and of course, special arrangements can be negotiated. But 50/50 is pretty standard in my area for residential properties. Commercial is a whole different ballgame! In my case, my search lasted several months and I looked at a lot of properties. I found a good number of them myself through an online service, but I still couldn't get in to see them without an agent so there was no good reason NOT to have my own representing my interests and not the seller's. And as I said, the agent I closed with did an awful lot for me. I had to fire my first agent because she wasn't finding me new listings or getting me appointments to see the listings I found myself and as a result, I missed out on some opportunities. Under the right circumstances, I'd still consider buying without an agent- especially if I knew the neighborhood and the market really well. But when you go outside the MLS, you really are limiting your options. Kudos to you if you can make it work for you, but it does take a lot of time and some basic knowledge.

OK, so who is going home tonight? I hated JD's first song and thought his "original" song was pretty mediochre. Well performed, just nothing special or new about the song. Kept wondering where I'd heard it before.......... Suzie was good, but I've never thought she was right for INXS and last night didn't change my mind. Liked Mig a lot. I don't get why they criticized his ballad as being inappropriate when they keep telling them ALL to show versatility. I thought Jordis did great and I really liked her original song. I didn't get the whole "losing your fire" comments. Seemed pretty unfair. Its a rock band, she was singing with her "rock voice". And Marty- I hated his first song but I loved his original number. I still don't think he's right for INXS, but the original song showed a lot of promise. I'm thinking one of the girls will go tonight and it will probably be Jordis. I'd be really happy to see JD go, but if they didn't cut him loose last week, I doubt they will this week!

It really does depend on the market and how much time and knowledge you have. Even with a good RE attorney, its a lot to take on yourself, but for some people, it might be worth it.

That's absolutely true, you really don't HAVE to go through them but depending on the market and how much time and expertise you have to dedicate to the process, they can make things a lot easier. (as a buyer in my area, its an especially good deal, since your agent ends up getting paid by the seller!)

Actually, the MLS is a good thing because all the listings are shared. Before the MLS, they weren't. The people with the monopoly were the brokers who got the listings. Bad for the seller because it limits the amount of people who can see their home, bad for the buyers because they can't have one agent dedicated to them. Where I live, the commission is 100% paid by the seller at closing (split between his listing broker and your selling broker) so as a buyer you can use your own agent/ broker and he or she will (or should) bust his ass for you. I probably looked at 100 properties and "fired" my first agent! My agent wrote up my contract and presented my offer. She negotiated with the other agent when there were mold issues, she even made herself available for the inspections when I couldn't get off work. She did all that work FOR me and I didn't pay her a dime! Both the seller and I also had attorneys, but most of the communication was done through the agents. There is no way our attorneys had time for all of that day to day stuff! And yes, in today's society, there are so many legal issues that you really do need specialists watching your back. Add to that the fact that houses are very personal and emotions can run high- it really helps to have a 3rd party involved to keep things in perspective.

I've had all of the above when I lived in apartments. Now we're in a house and I honestly don't interact much with the neighborhood. I'd guess there a little of everyone on my block, from creepy to cool!

I line mine with plastic grocery bags, but if I let it go too long, the top of the bin gets nasty. I end up going through more tops than bottoms!

Mostly clogging up, but I think a lot of that has to do with the extra urine output from my cat with kidney disease. When they run all the time, there is usually more litter (overfilled) or clumps than the machine can handle. It gets to a certain point, stops then seems to know it didn't do its job so it tries again. The Littermaid will do that 4 or 5 times in a row then it will stop until another cat uses it, then it will try again. At that point, you need to scoop it out by hand. You also need to use only premium clumping litter- not the cheap grocery store stuff. that stuff won't work at all. There are a couple of different kinds now, LitterMaid was the first and its probably still the best one out there. (I've got a different kind now, and its definitely no better!)