Buying a house for whatever reason should be a fun and exciting time. Open houses are an enjoyable event. You may even visit three or four different homes in one day. There are special things to look for when going to see these houses. An open house is used to check the market and let potential buyers window-shop. There are certain criteria you have in mind when searching for the perfect home. Jot those ideas down and compare them to the homes you view.

Take a notepad with you to each house and make a note of the address of the homes you visit. Jot down things you like and dislike about each house. This will help you keep track of which house is which. Make note of nearby schools, the general neighborhood, how close is freeway access, where are the shopping malls, and any other information that will help you decide on your choice of home. The commute to work is a vital piece of information. Many forget to consider how far away the job is. The last thing a person wants to do is spend too much time on the road instead of with the family. When attending an open house, remember that the neighborhood surroundings are an important aspect to purchasing a house.

Check the condition of the house, the road and the yard. Is it suitable of children or pets? Who will take care of the yard or can you hire a gardener? Whatever you desire, be sure to think of everything and take plenty of notes. A Polaroid camera is well worth taking. Clip instant snapshots to your notebook to help you remember specific houses. Buying a house is an important step, so make sure you know what to look for. Check everything. Notice cabinets, appliances, doors and even views out of the windows. Listen to noises that could be bothersome, such as a train that passes near by or a freeway. Make sure there is plenty of living space or room to add more if you desire. Most people forget to ensure there is enough closet and storage room. Write down vital pieces of information which should include anything that will help you with your decision.

At the open house, an owner or broker is likely to be present. If there is one in attendance, ask questions. Find out all the little secrets about the house. Granted they will not always be straightforward. Have a memo of each inquiry. Put in writing all the answers. When you make the choice on a house you can add these questions into the sales contact and re-ask the query. If these replies differ in the writing stage you may not want to do business with these people after all. All homes have concealed facts. Some are not real terrible but others can be horrendous. Interrogating the owner or broker is an ideal way to find out things that are not visible. Do not be shy about wanting to know how your dream home is really shaped.

Many times, several brokers, lenders or agents frequent open houses. They want your business as soon as you step foot onto the property. Do not sign anything. Even if this were the house you would like to purchase. On sight people have one agenda, to sell you something. Usually the brokers who visit many different open houses will try and get you to view other properties. Which is fine, however they do not know anything about your wishes of the home you want. The mortgage lenders may try to sell you a different house at a better rate. However, in the end it is more likely you will end up paying more. At the stage of an open house it is most probable you are playing the field.

Going to an open house is a time-honored tradition. Open houses are for looking and sometimes even buying. With an important and expensive decision to make, it is better to research and look at all of your options. When venturing upon an open house, understand all the choices offered. Try not to be persuaded in making rash decisions. You have the option of looking, taking those important notes, returning to look some more, and even moving on if this house is not for you.

Make a Statement with a Custom Printed T Shirt

“I`m sorry, I`m allergic to stupid people.” There are some things that you can`t say in real life, but you can wear them on a t-shirt. When it comes to regular social etiquette, t-shirt slogans launch the rules right out of the window, turning jokes reserved for Christmas crackers and statements of bemused contempt into catchphrases and quotes that bring sly smiles to all that read them. So what is it about the printed t-shirt that makes it ok to walk around with “Did you eat a bowl of stupid for breakfast?” plastered across your chest?

The truth is that t-shirt slogans make an art form out of the fine comedic line between laughing with someone and laughing at them. Instead of feeling insulted by a phrase like “I`m not getting smaller, I`m backing away from you”, readers of t-shirt slogans presume the insult is directed at a third party, a figure of ineptitude we can all relate to – and, increasingly often, revile – creating a shared joke, rather than a direct insult that alienates the recipient.

If this all sounds a bit far-fetched, just think about how often you or the people you know are forced to deal with those who are, let`s say, seemingly intellectually challenged. With an economy increasingly based upon service, it is ever more likely that your daily routine will involve the frustration of dealing with someone stuck in the blissful state of ignorance, be it your boss, your customers or even people in the street. Take that into consideration and it isn`t hard to see where the fashion for this form of printed riposte comes from. Where self-deprecating slogans such as “Do not disturb – I`m disturbed enough already” used to rule the t-shirt marketplace, now the more aggressive form of externally-directed castigation is king, addressing the elephant in the room that we are all too polite to mention (namely that there is no shortage of idiots in the world) and making a mockery of it.

Of course, rude, insulting humour is not the only kind that appears on t-shirts, but neither is it the only form that has seen a recent increase in popularity. With an exponential increase in our reliance on computers comes the need for IT-related services, including an abundance of programmers and software developers. This newly-expanded social group share common knowledge and practices across their industry, making the world of computer geekery the perfect breeding ground for inside jokes and cliquey humour. Slogans like “Computer programmers don`t byte – they nibble a bit” arise from puns and stereotypes based on knowledge that is common to the IT crowd and make great icebreakers for the otherwise socially awkward.

In fact, this is the reason that t-shirts can get away with slogans like “Coffee, chocolate, men . . . Some things are just better rich”: although the humour on t-shirts might be conventionally cheesy, cheeky or even rude, slogan t-shirts perform a social function, uniting readers and wearers through a common joke.

Look at other popular forms of printed t-shirts – band shirts, football or sports team shirts, even stag and hen do special printed tees – and you start to see that the fashion of t-shirts is often linked to the function of community. Thinking about it, it all starts to make sense – it`s the reason why this place offers things like leavers hoodies, retaining the sense of community after leaving the institution, the reason teams have colours, the reason that when you see the slogan “my mother is a travel agent for guilt trips,” you feel connected to the wearer by a common understanding. T-shirts are all about the other people around you; after all, amusing though your t-shirt might be to you when you put it on in the morning, you aren`t the one who`ll be reading it all day.

Turn all the Organic Waste into Compost.

If you have a yard or garden, you know that grass clippings, leaves, dead plants, tree branches and shrub trimmings can add up fast–especially in late summer. An alternative to having it hauled away is to turn all the organic waste into compost.

At first glance, a compost pile may look like a big pile of dead leaves, old plants and grass clippings. Inside, though, there’s a bit of backyard science taking place. Microorganisms are eating away at that pile of yard waste and turning it into compost. Compost is really a nutrient-rich soil amendment, much like a fertilizer, that helps vegetables, flowers, lawns and potted plants grow healthier and stronger.

The process of composting is a natural occurrence that happens all around us–it ‘s nature’s way of recycling organic material. When a leaf or tree limb falls in the woods, it eventually decays and turns to compost and acts as a natural fertilizer that encourages new growth. This process can takes years.

When you compost at home, you speed up the process. With a little planning, you can produce usable compost in as little as three weeks. And, despite what people think, a properly maintained compost system doesn’t create any unpleasant odors.

The first thing to know about composting is what can and can’t be composted. The simple answer is–any plant material that was once alive can be composted:

fallen leaves
grass and lawn clippings
hay
old fruits and vegetables
annual weeds before they seed
remains of garden plants
woodchips and sawdust
fruit and vegetable peels and scraps
tea bags
coffee grounds
eggshells
Do not compost the following materials:

painted or chemically treated wood
diseased plants
annual weeds that have gone to seed
roots of perennial weeds
human and pet waste, including litter
meat scraps
fatty foods
milk products
bones
While home composting is becoming more popular, a growing number of cities and municipalities are also realizing the benefits of composting. Many now operate large-scale composting facilities to help cut down on the growing amount of material going into landfills. The process is similar to a home composting system, but on a larger scale.

It takes about three to four months, a controlled combination of moisture, air, microorganisms and temperatures reaching up to 160 degrees F to turn yard waste into compost. Some of the finished compost is sold to landscaping companies, some is used in sanitary landfills and the rest is given away to gardeners.

On a smaller scale, starting your own home composting system is pretty easy. You can either buy a commercial composting bin or build one yourself. The choice really depends on how much material you have to recycle and how fast you want to make finished compost.

Freestanding compost piles are the simplest system. If you don’t have a lot of material and you’re not in a hurry, this is the one for you. Just start piling on the yard debris and food scraps and let nature do the rest. Be patient: this form of passive composting can take up to two years to make finished compost.

Enclosed one-bin systems make compost more quickly and require a little more maintenance. It’s a great way to get started with composting. You can buy several types of bins at nurseries, hardware stores, home improvement centers, garden catalogs or on the Internet:

A hoop-type composter is just a piece of plastic with lots of holes in it. Fill it with waste materials and mix, or turn, the contents every week or two with a pitchfork or shovel. You can have finished compost in 3 to 4 months.
A square plastic bin is a fancier unit with vents in the side for aeration and small openings for easy removal of the finished compost. These units cost anywhere from $150 to $200.
A compost tumbler is more user-friendly than a bin that sits on the ground. Fill it with waste materials and rather than turning it, just rotate the bin to mix and aerate. This system costs about $150 to $200 and creates compost in about 3 to 4 weeks.
If you don’t want to purchase a compost bin, you can make one out of wire, wood , concrete blocks or even a plastic garbage can with holes drilled into it.
Four wooden pallets can be used to contain a compost pile. To make turning the pile and removing the finished compost easier, hinge the front pallet so it swings open. A note: when using wood, avoid using treated lumber because it may contain toxic chemicals that could leach into the compost.
A wire bin is made by making a circle with garden stakes that measures 3 to 4 feet in diameter. Wrap wire fencing around the stakes, attaching it securely with cable ties.
A one-bin unit is great for making a single batch of compost every few months. If you have a lot of yard and garden waste and want to produce a steadier supply of compost throughout the growing season, a single bin probably won’t be enough. You may have to graduate to a multi-bin system to recycle the material that your yard produces.