28Feb
Introducing Michigan’s Secret Beach Town

Located in western Michigan, on the shore of Lake Michigan at sunset, is the charming little town of Pentwater, Michigan. For years, you would see a common bumper sticker around town that read “Where the hell is Pentwater?” Anyone who has spent time here is sure to fall in love with the area and will return again and again, which is why the continued darkness of the city seems to be an enduring mystery. Most people in Michigan are still completely unaware of this coastal gem.

Allow me to introduce.

Visitors to Pentwater arriving from the more popular southern route are initially greeted by Pentwater Lake as the road winds its way along its northern shoreline, dotted with quaint and charming cabins, the silhouettes of fishermen, and the occasional swan or family of ducks. As the road turns right, then left, and then nears the village, the view opens onto a mast-filled harbor, lined with active marinas and charter boats, truly reminiscent of the coastal towns of Maine or Massachusetts. This is New England, but much closer to home.

The road then turns sharply north and becomes Main Street Pentwater, perfectly lined with art galleries featuring creations by local and national artisans, numerous antique shops, clothing boutiques, and restaurants with open-air patios featuring music. Live and delicious seafood. and cold cocktails. It’s always happy hour here, if not officially, at least in spirit. This is a scene to inspire Norman Rockwell himself, with the white church steeple on the outskirts of town. People drive slowly; They take a deep breath and smile, because at Pentwater you feel like you’re on vacation, even when you’re not.

Near the end of town, our village tour turns west, continues a few blocks, and then ends at the main attraction: the freshwater shores of Lake Michigan. Guests who have never been to the Great Lakes are always pleasantly surprised, and the locals born and raised here never tire of it. An endless water horizon with the most beautiful sunsets in the world, warm sand between your toes, dune grass swaying in the breeze, the sound of waves, seagulls, kites and ice cream cones; this is Pentwater, not California, not Maine, not Carolina or Hawaii, but Michigan! And after a long walk along the water’s edge, all the way to the end of the pier, around the lighthouse and back again, you’re in love with Michigan’s secret beach town. You will come back again and again.

He is waiting, on the way, to welcome you and yours this summer season.
24Feb
Hockey News – NHL to fight KHL

The NHL is closing in on a deal with the KHL to play two exhibition games next season.

Every week I like to pick a random hockey story that I think is interesting enough to share with the rest of the hockey community.

I came across this story from Darren Dreger on TSN and after doing some research, I found some additional reports on forums and blogs (the most credible sources) that confirmed these details. So, having a hunch, this sounds like something that could really be in the works.

Apparently the NHL and KHL have been talking about hosting some exhibition games between the two leagues since the Olympics. The two NHL teams that will be playing, and they are only tentatively scheduled at the moment, are the Carolina Hurricanes and Phoenix Coyotes because, in reality, there is no denying the fact that quiet and reserved folks like Cam Ward and Petr Prucha have emerged. of their shells. to become legitimate spokespersons for the league and will represent the NHL extremely well at this outstanding international event.

Sheesh. What happened: New York, Detroit, Washington, Pittsburgh, Toronto, Montreal, etc. etc. etc. weren’t all available?

Anyway, according to Dreger’s report, it looks like the ‘Canes will play St. Petersburg (SKA) and the’ Yotes will face Riga. Who knows who will defect to the KHL and join these two teams before the actual games are played (or leave the teams for that matter), but some notable names in the teams at the moment include:

SKA:

Darius Kasparaitis

Alexei Yashin

Sergei zubov

Sergei brylin

Riga:

Tyler arnason

Marcel hossa

Martin Kariya (yes I’m stretching here)

Other teams will go to scrimmage in Europe, as has been fashionable in recent seasons; including the Boston Bruins, Minnesota Wild, San Jose Sharks and Columbus Blue Jackets. To be honest, in the humble opinion of this hockey fool, I think Boston and San Jose would have been better options for these big marquee games.

But regardless of my opinion, if this really fails, it will be pretty good. There has been enough tension between the leagues in recent seasons and honestly, there is no better way to settle the score than a game of hockey. I like the idea of ​​showcasing talents from different parts of the world and if the sport gains any media attention, it is definitely worth it in my books.
18Feb
10 Ways To Find Cash Buyers For Your Wholesale Deals

After reading my previous wholesale posts, you should be able to find deals and know that they need to be bought at a discount large enough to sell to investors who, in turn, can make their own profit on them. Here we’ll assume you have these great deals and you just don’t have buyers to buy them.

So how do you find cash buyers?

1. First, it is important network at your local REIA meetings. You can find the local real estate investors association meetings at NationalREIA.org. Make sure to attend regularly to get to know your local investors and what they are looking for. Some like big renovations, others like smaller ones, some want properties in which they can invest less and then keep them long-term as rent and they want to buy those that already have capital in them.

2. In most areas, you can find diversified investors meetings on MeetUp.com. Again, attend and network to be known as the local with wholesale properties.

3. Local search Homeowners association meetings. Your assistants are really doing the business and are often looking for more properties for themselves.

Four. Call all the bandit posters you can find and see if any of those investors are interested in your deals. Ask for permission to add your email and phone number to your list of potential buyers.

5. Get names, phone numbers, and email addresses at every meeting you attend. This is how you make your investor list to mail. I’m constantly being asked where to get a list of potential buyers and sellers. The list cannot be bought, you make it yourself. It takes time but you don’t need a lot of names. What you want on the list are quality names, those who are really doing the business, who have the funds, the desire, and the ability to buy deals from you. Actually, it doesn’t take many names to create a large list.

6. If you have great offers, you won’t need to talk to many investors to sell them. If you talk to six investors and they are not selling, they are not deals, meaning you are paying too much to buy or expecting too much profit when you resell.

7. Be proactive. If there are no good investor meetings near you, start one. This is not an isolated business; You must network and be part of the investor pool to be successful.

8. If you have too many offers for sale, they may not actually be offers. If your properties are not selling quickly, they are probably priced too high.

9. Do you have the right investors? for your offers? If you are looking for mobile homes, do you have mobile home buyers on your list? If you buy in heavily affected areas, do you have investors who want those deals? Make sure your buyer list is diversified enough to have buyers for whatever deal type you come across.

10. Are your offers good? If you really have good deals, investors will make a profit when they buy from you and will come back again and again. Soon, you won’t be looking for investor buyers, they will be looking for you.

Do you have a buyer’s list? Can you sell quickly? What tips can you add?
12Feb
Budget travel to Orlando: tips from the locals

If you’re planning a trip to Florida, specifically Orlando, chances are you’re looking for cheap Orlando travel deals and tips. Who better to advise you than someone who has lived in the area for 36 years. Yes, that’s me, I have lived here most of my life and therefore I can offer you a little help for your vacation.

First, with regards to theme parks, watch out for a lot of pitches from people selling timeshares and offering you “free Disney tickets” and such. Are they a scam? Well, some may be. And even those that are legitimate can actually waste a great deal of your time and also put you in such an aggravated frame of mind that you won’t be able to enjoy your “free” tickets. I use quotes around the word free because I don’t think any of the timeshare sellers are actually giving you free tickets. You can end up with tickets without spending any money, but in the long run you have wasted a lot of your time and hassle and therefore it is not free.

But on the other hand, my cousin is a master at these things. He has gotten a lot of free tickets by listening to these spiels. Frankly, I don’t know why he does it, but he does it, over and over again. So for those of you who are determined to consider this a cheap Orlando travel deal, and really want to give it a try, your method is to simply ask how long the sales pitch will last and demand that they stick with it. Don’t take no for an answer. Be firm and don’t allow yourself to be diverted from your goal, which is free tickets (or whatever they offer) within a specific period of time in which you listen to them.

So to more cheap travel tips to Orlando. Let’s talk about restaurants. If you limit yourself to theme park areas, you won’t find many places that I would consider local “secrets” for great and relatively inexpensive restaurants. But there are a couple of places that I highly recommend if you want to venture away from the tourist areas and into the city of Orlando and its surroundings. I could really write a full article on this topic alone, so I’ll only mention a couple of places here. If you are looking for Italian food, Amalfi’s Italian restaurant and pizza is excellent. It is located at 523 South Chickasaw Trail. I used to work in this area and ate there at least twice a week. Unfortunately, I don’t go out that way anymore, but it’s worth the drive and definitely worth including in cheap Orlando travel tips. Good food, good prices. If you want to go a bit out of your way to the surrounding Apopka area, you can find what I consider to be THE best seafood restaurant in the south called The Catfish Place. This one is definitely considered a locals secret and has the best catfish, silent pups, cole slaw, just the works. I really like this place!

Finally, for one more cheap Orlando travel recommendation for you, I highly recommend renting a car. Compare prices online before you arrive to find the best deal. I generally find Enterprise to be very useful and inexpensive, and have used them exclusively for many years without a problem. But sometimes if you use Travelocity or another online agency, you can find a deal online, and if you do, go ahead. The Orlando area is too vast to try to navigate public transportation. Much much cheaper than simply renting a car.

Use these cheap Orlando travel tips to start saving money and enjoying an enjoyable trip to Florida.
6Feb
5 Ways To Pay For Your Bar Exam Prep Course!

As most of you know …

I am a recent graduate and of course I am studying for my law exam this summer. I was fortunate to receive a full scholarship to take a BarBri course offered through my state’s “Lawyer Review School”. Now, I was surprised to learn that when I mentioned this on Twitter, many students were unaware that many Bar Prep companies offer financial assistance. Naturally, I’m sure they don’t publish this information because getting that $ 1200- $ 2000 from you is so much more enjoyable.

Well, I’ll let the cat out of the bag! There are several ways to get financial aid for a bar prep course …

1) Campus Representative – The first, and probably the most obvious way, is to become a campus representative for one of the core programs (KaplanPMBR or BarBri). Campus representatives will either be paid for the course or have it significantly reduced.

2) Procrastinate! – Another way is to give up all those pesky emails and “presentation” events they do during the school year, and wait until April or May to sign up for a course. I know that BarBri representatives sent emails lowering the price of the class after the so-called “deadlines” had passed.

3) Review and READ the fine print – As I mentioned earlier, I stumbled upon a scholarship that was being sponsored by our state bar association and my law school. It wasn’t highly publicized and it was in a single email sent by our professional development office during the time of the finale that people were least than concerned about emails. Check with your law school and state bar association to see if they offer a reduced fee or even scholarships (usually a refund of course fees) to take a review course that has been approved by them. Also, in the fine print of many of the announcements and emails from these bar prep programs, they do state that financial aid is available (payment plan or tuition reduction). * Themis Bar even ran a contest to blog their bar prep experience for a free course!

4) Get a sponsor! – If you are one of the lucky few who have gotten a job or have interviews scheduled before graduation, negotiate your deal as far as your employer pays you to take the bar exam and possibly a prep course. Or at least ask for help! Closed mouths don’t feed, and you know you’re worth it!

5) Take Your School’s Pub Prep Class – Many of the lower tier schools offer their own in-house pub review course. I took the one my school offered me and it was a great help in alleviating some of my fear taking the bar exam. I pushed myself and took the course seriously (even though it was pass / fail, and all you had to do was introduce yourself!). I knew my financial situation and that I was probably not going to be able to fork out the $ 1,200,1,600 for a bar prep class in my state. So if you can stay disciplined and get the job done, I would definitely recommend taking the bar prep class that your school offers and save yourself a few bucks!
2Feb
Strength training in martial arts

According to various sources on the internet, a 1996 article in Iron Man Magazine revealed Bruce Lee’s training. In addition to his cardio and karate workouts, Lee lifted weights three times a week and performed the following routine:

wipe and press 2 x 8

2 x 12 squats

2 x 8 bar jerseys

2 x 6 bench presses

good morning 2×8

2 x 8 barbell curls

Unfortunately, he injured his back saying good morning, which almost ruined his career. Otherwise, his weight training was successful because it is credited with helping him add 30 pounds of solid muscle to his relatively small frame.

Although Lee is the most famous martial artist of all time, it is possible that the strongest was a man named Masutatsu Oyama. Therefore, it will be interesting to contrast Lee’s training with Oyama’s.

The Karate Bull-Fighter

Oyama was one of the first to bring Karate to the United States and founder of the Kyokushin style of Karate. His 1958 classic “What is Karate?” It was one of the first books on the subject written in English and designed to make the subject accessible to Westerners.

Oyama initially became famous with stunts such as Karate-style bullfighting. Unlike Mexican bullfighters, he actually threw the bull to the ground and broke one of its horns. (It wasn’t too popular with animal rights activists in Tokyo.)

Oyama Strength Training

According to Oyama’s 1958 book, strength and speed are more important than skill for karate, and speed is more important than strength. In addition, he said that it was very important to practice jumping.

Here are some recommendations he gives in “What is Karate?” (It does not give an exact training).

Running – 4 km per day

Jump rope: 20 minutes a day

Dumbbell Arm Exercise (Shoulder Press?) – 200 times

Dives – 100 times

Push-ups (hands in fists) – 300 times

Incline push-ups – 100 times

Jump Side Kick on a 4 Foot Jumping Horse

Incline Dumbbell Bench Press

Exercises that require a partner:

Hit the bag with the top of the elbow and the side of the elbow – 200 times each

Practicing bag jump kick

Neck exercises (as a couple)

Leg exercise (squats with partner on the back)

Back and abdomen exercises as a couple

Elsewhere in the book, Oyama said that he would bench press 175 pounds 500 times a day.

Then there are the specific exercises for karate, such as the straw blow and the specific exercises for the ability to break stones and boards. All this in addition to practicing forms, sparring, etc.

Comparing Lee and Oyama

Now what strikes me as the essential difference between Lee and Oyama’s training styles is volume. Lee’s weight training routine is relatively brief and he avoided lifting on heavy martial arts training days.

While Lee could do an exercise for 2 sets of 8 reps (which is pretty typical), Oyama would do it for hundreds of reps. Clearly, Oyama’s approach is slower and would require a lot of dedication.

If you look at the photos of these men, they have quite a different structure. For Lee, his training goal was apparently to add volume. Before weight training, he weighed just 135 pounds and added 30 pounds of solid muscle.

Oyama, on the other hand, was obviously a beefier guy and talks about losing weight during periods of intense training in his book. Judging from photos of him with other people, I’d say he was probably a bit taller than Lee (who was 5’8 “). Although Oyama was of average height, he doesn’t seem like a small guy when standing next to American. professional fighters, boxers and strong men.

Possible conclusions

The point is not to compare them by saying that one is better than the other. I wonder what effect his training style had on his appearance and how much it was genetic.

Regardless, if Oyama struggled to keep his weight down, it appears that high-volume training helped him achieve it. Lee, on the other hand, appears to have been naturally slim and wanted the weight training to increase (probably to look better on camera). Too much volume could be counterproductive for that goal.

So maybe the lesson from this is that if you want to lose weight while also getting stronger, it might be worth considering an old-fashioned high-volume workout routine, assuming you can put in that kind of dedication. On the other hand, if your goal is to look like Bruce Lee … well, all I can say is “good luck”!