Winter has never been the best time to sell a home, especially if you live in an area that is besieged by bad weather. But sometimes it is necessary to sell during the months of less desirable weather. Well, that's alright, it just gives you the opportunity to try something different when it comes to home staging. Actually it can be quite an opportunity as it will show off your home at the worst of times. This is the perfect time for you to crate the warm and inviting atmosphere that you need in order to make the home inviting.

During winter with snow and rain, water and associated damage is one of the biggest issues.for you as a home owner. The biggest issues for the viewers will be their safety in getting to the house and their warmth once in it. If you have a fireplace then ensure that its lit during the show times. A warm home will encourage people to stay longer and view more of the home, whereas a chilly home can quickly drive viewers out.

If there is snow and ice then you will need to spend some time making the approach to your home safe and easy to navigate. Driveways and walkways should be completely shoveled and clear and should be keep free of ice all day. Keep a bag on de-icer on hand in case things get slippery. Also take care to note whether falling snow from the roof could be a concern.

Some thoughtful touches that will help a home show better are things like warm drinks for the viewers. A little bit of hot chocolate or apple cider warms viewers up and helps them to remember your home. This also gives a great aroma to the house that will be fondly remembered. Another nice touch would be some plastic slip-ons so that viewers don't have to remove their shoes when looking at the home. This also goes a long way towards protecting your floors. Staging isn't impossible during the winter, just different.

Kerri Demski, provides outstanding client counseling and service through the challenging process of buying and selling Calgary real estate.

For more info on homes in Calgary contact Kerri today or visit online at http://www.ehomescalgary.com

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With the popularity of movies like The Fast and The Furious, Gone in Sixty Seconds and The last Ride, there has been some reference to the good old muscle cars which were immortalized in movies like Bullit, Vanishing Point and of course The Dukes of Hazzard series. This top ten list has a look at some of the muscle car icons born from the late 60s and early 70s.

The main measure of these cars is power, with Brake Horse Power (bhp) being the term flung around most commonly. What this refers to is the power released by the engine before the gearbox, generator, differential, water pump, and other components sap its power. If you are used to Kilowatts, then take into consideration that 250kw translates to 335.26bhp.

The 1969 Pontiac GTO

Conceptualised to gain appeal to the younger market, Pontiac put a 6.3 litre V8 engine into the midsized Tempest shell, making for a cheap fast car. To the surprise of Pontiacs marketing team the GTO became massively popular and in 1969 they fitted it with a 6.5 litre V8 which could kick out 366bhp. The Judge was born.

The 1970 Buick GSX

Again the idea here was to squash a beast of an engine into a midsized body, in this case the Buick Skylark. In 1967 the Buick GS became recognised as a standalone model available as a sedan and convertible.

The 1970 model was given a monstrous 7.5 litre engine capable of producing 400bhp. The GSX body came in yellow or white only, adding to the image which made this car a distinct classic.

The 1967 Chevrolet Camaro

There were various options available to those purchasing a first generation Camaro, the Z28 package being the most exciting. With a 4.9 litre engine, power steering, disc brakes on the front and a four speed manual gearbox, the Z28 was made for racing producing up to 400bhp.

The Plymouth Roadrunner

Built to beat 14 seconds over a quarter mile, the Plymouth Roadrunner was stripped down to the bare essentials, sacrificing even the carpets in order to make this into a beast of a machine. It featured a beefed up steering, brake and suspension systems and a 6.3 litre engine which pushed 335bhp. An optional boost came from the 7.0 litre versions 425bhp.

The Dodge Challenger

Hitting the market in 1970, the Dodge Challenger was a hit from the get go, selling more than 80,000 in the first year. Although various options were made available, the R/T is the model which attracts the most attention with its 7.0 litre Hemi engine kicking out 425bhp. Later models lost the plot, with the 72 model dropping to a measly 240bhp. See the Challenger in the cult classic movie, Vanishing Point.

The 1966 Ford Fairlane GT

Launched in 62 with a 3.6 litre V8, the Ford Fairlane was given a makeover in 1966, complete with a 6.4 litre engine capable of 335bhp. As if this were not enough they decided to upgrade to a 7.0 litre NASCAR engine with 435bhp. Rigid front suspension and disc brakes gave the car better handling, and the brute power kicked the dial over 60mph (100km/h) in six seconds.

Oldsmobile 442

The Cutlass model was equipped with a police specification engine capable of 310bhp. The 442 refers to the four barrel carburettor, four speed manual gear box and the twin exhausts. The 442 had a reputation for its handling when compared to other muscle cars, thanks to its improved springs, shocks and the comforting safety of an anti-roll bar.

The 1968 edition was redesigned as a shapely coupe, with a 7.5 litre block blasting 390bhp.

Plymouth Barracuda

Although the Barracuda was launched in 1964, just a couple of weeks before the Ford Mustang, it was not until 1970 that Plymouth gained wider popularity with sexy lines and some serious growl under the hood in the form of a 7.2 litre 390bhp. The other choice was a smaller 7.0 litre Hemi block which knocked out some extra power at 425bhp!

Even with a revamped suspension the power was so much that the Cuda gained a reputation for difficult handling.

The 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle SS

The 1965 Chevelle SS sported a 6.5 litre block pushing 375bhp, which was all too much for the front end of the car, making for some pretty horrible handling. Luckily this was addressed with the revamping of the suspension and the addition of disk brakes on the front.

1969 saw the introduction of the top engine spec, which was featured in the El Camio pick-up as well. The 1970 SS was powered by a 7.4 litre V8 with 450bhp pulling the Chevell to 100km/h in just six seconds. Later models were adjusted for unleaded fuel and the power output suffered considerably.

Dodge Charger

Bo and Dukes ride of choice, the Charger was launched in 1966 and some 37,000 cars were sold in the first year. A 7.0 litre Hemi reputedly kicked out around 500bhp, though it was officially rated at 425bhp. This monster reached 100km/h in just five and a half seconds. The Hemi engine option was available until 1972.

MensLifestyle is a site for men who are looking to live a lifestyle of health, wealth and adventure. The idea is to bring together the tips, tools and products that will help you make more money, live healthier and enjoy your life that much more.

¶ 2:26 PM 0 comments

Chkdsk is a tool provided with Microsoft Windows 2000 and Microsoft Windows XP that is used to test and repair the computer's file system. The analogous tool for Windows 95/98/ME is called Scandisk.

This is a very important and often overlooked tool, which all users should use periodically to make sure there are no errors in their file system and to correct those errors that do appear.

Windows will run chkdsk, but only when errors in the file system have reached the point where Windows itself notices that there is a problem. In fact, problems usually have been present and propagating in the file system for awhile before Windows notices them. These problems are often responsible for subtle performance issues or strange malfunctions of your software. In fact, it has been our experience at Just So Software that the vast majority of support requests regarding our Property Management Software package are resolved by having the user run chkdsk.

You should run chkdsk whenever there is an anomaly - whenever your software does something unexpected, whenever you experience a "blue screen of death", prior to installing any package, after installing any package, after a power failure, both before and after an upgrade, and - if none of those things applies - once a week anyway. Most of the time, chkdsk will report no errors. But sometimes it will, and the times it does report and fix an error more than make up for the effort you took on the times that it did not find an error.

File system errors are a fact of life that comes about because of the huge complexity of these computers, and the very high density of storage on hard drives. It is not a problem that is exclusive to Windows file systems, but Windows is one of the worst about automatically checking and cleaning the file system, which is why you have to do it.

So, here is how you run chkdsk:

1. Go to Start->Run.
2. In the Run requester, type Cmd (without the quotes).
3. A command line window will open. In that window, type chkdsk c: (without the quotes).
4. The system will run chkdsk. Read the output carefully.
5. If chkdsk did not give any error messages you are done. If it finds errors it will tell you it is fixing them, but itreally is not. Dont believe it.
6. If chkdsk reported any errors at all, then type inchkdsk c: /f (without the quotes).
7. chkdsk will tell you that it cannot run and ask if a disk check should be scheduled for the next time the system restarts. You tell it yes.
8. Reboot.

There is a bug in the Windows XP version of chkdsk. Chkdsk may report an error that "security descriptors have changed" then will give an error message of "CHKDSK discovered free space marked as allocated in the master file table (MFT) bitmap". If you receive these two error messages together, this is normal system behavior that merely reflects that the system is running while chkdsk is running. In this case, ignore it. If the "free space marked as allocated" error appears WITHOUT the security descriptor error, then you should treat this as a valid error and run chkdsk to repair the file system. This bug in chkdsk is NOT present in Windows 2000; any reported errors there should be considered valid.

Periodically running chkdsk is the single most important thing you can do to ensure that your data stays safe and your computer continues to run without issue. Do not fail to do this!

Jim Locker holds advanced degrees in physics, has designed and developed computer systems and software for over 30 years, and was a landlord for 20 years running up to a couple of hundred properties. He presently works as an independent computer systems consultant and works for Just So Software, Inc. which produces one of the industry's premier property management software packages.

¶ 8:27 AM 0 comments

One of the hot gifts featured on MSNBC 2007 Top Ten Gift List is life coaching. Last year I started a tradition of giving away free seats in an online group life coaching event and this year is no exception.

Is there something you still would like to achieve but have put off for a very long time? Is it a true heart desire of yours that lights you up whenever you imagine doing it?

I'd love to talk to you about it. I know what it is like to be in fear of taking the plunge and doing something that absolutely lights you up. I've learnt that seizing the opportunity to courageously break free and manifest a heart desire causes Life Itself to rush in to support and encourage.

For many years, I ran away from conducting my spiritual work because of fear of being thought 'mad'. But when I picture myself being happy, laughing, enjoying myself, it's always when I'm talking to people about their lives, about God and about their life purpose.

I don't know about you but I'm not happy about how we humans have organised life on Earth so far. Label me idealistic or call me a wishful thinker: the only reason every human being can't have good food, clothing, shelter, health care, education, money supply and full self expression is because we haven't set up life on Earth that way, so far.

As a result, I'm fully committed to helping as many persons as I can create the life they want as my contribution to recreating how we organise and distribute resources planetary-wide.

The only way we can all work together to collectively create a reality where every human being enjoys good food, clothing, shelter, health care, education, money supply and full self expression is to help each other fulfil their full potential and life purpose.

Each human being has a wonderful, unique perspective, gift and offering to share with the rest of the world and it is my passion to help as many persons express the Fullness of Who They Are.

A 'lighted up' human being is a powerful agent of change and I'm dedicated to helping everyone I can clarify, courageously express and Be the Fullness of Who They Are as my contribution to recreating life on planet Earth! ;-)

You can review MSNBC's Top Ten Hot Gifts List

Angela Chen Shui, Soul Alignment Spiritual Life Coach, Teacher of Divinity, Awakening Energy Healing Facilitator and Internet Mompreneur publishes "Soul Self Help Insights", the Beyond-the-Mind, Soul-thrilling self help, New Energy spirituality newsletter. If you're ready to access your inner wisdom, create and celebrate a more magical life and express yourself more fully and passionately, get your FREE insights now at: http://www.spiritualityselfhelp.com

Copyright 2006 - Angela Chen Shui. All Rights Reserved Worldwide. Reprint Rights: You may reprint this article as long as you leave all the links active, do not edit the article in any way, give author name credit and include this entire resource box.

¶ 3:10 AM 0 comments