How to Sell on Craigslist

from Life123.com
By: Mocha, Writer

Craigslist is one the worlds most popular websites for connecting people at no cost. Some large popular cities have thousands of unique visitors each day. These are local people that are ready to buy. There is cash awaiting nearby to carry of unwanted items. Here are some tips on how to make money with Craigslist.

Listing a few items on Craigslist each day can quickly turn into a part time income. Many people shop smart with their money and are always looking for true bargains. The retail prices on clothing and other consumer goods can easily break anyone on a tight budget. Savvy shoppers will act quickly if it is an item needed immediately.

What to Sell Online

The current market price of specific items can be found on Ebay. Visit Ebay and create an account. This account will be used to study completed listings. This will give an accurate price range for items that are sold. An under priced item will generate a lot of phone calls or emails in a short period of time. Avoid loosing money by researching prices first. Clean out closets, storage units, garages, drawers, and sealed storage containers. Look for things of value that have a good value on Ebay completed listings and take a picture. Low quality cell phone pictures can easily be sent to an email address. Use a digital camera or create a You Tube video for very expensive items. Use whatever type of camera equipment is available.

Make Money on Craigslist

Be specific in the ad. List the item brand name, description, size, or measurements. Automobile prices can be checked by visiting Kelly Blue Book in the private part section. Consider selling boats, sports equipment, electronics, clothing, kitchen ware, appliances, furniture, and textbooks. A good ad will prompt the Craiglist visitor to email or call immediately. Make the offer time specific. When questions are asked regarding the item description update the ad with the answer. Always do a spell check before publishing the ad.

Finding what to sell online is not complicated. Research and taking action by posting an add can quickly increase income. Always meet strangers in public areas with a friend or relative. Coffee shops, indoor shopping areas, and having multiple people meet at the same time for different product deals helps to stay safe when selling. Use these tips to help sell on Craigslist.

Top Twenty Trail Running Tips

from Life123.com
By: craigy, Contributor

In no particular order.

1. Run a regular loop. Use a favourite loop; preferably one with a bit if everything in it; to establish performance benchmarks and gauge fitness and improvements in fitness.

2 Warm up and warm down. Minimum of five minutes before and after of easy jogging or some movement is essential; ten minutes if you can. This will reduce the risk of injuries as you transition the body from resting to hard effort and back to resting.

3. Rest. Take regular rest days during your training. Professionals make the most of rest; the time when your body actually increases it's capacities; so should you. Take a day off a week and use the time to pursue a less active interest. Your body will thank you for it and you'll improve more quickly.

4. Run far and wide. Top keep things fresh and your muscles guessing run as many different types of trail and terrain as possible. This will freshen up your routine and provide new challenges. Even plan on doing some running if you go on a trip.

5. Walk. Whether starting out or running an ultra, walking can help you stay fresher for longer. Incorporate walking as part of your running,. By walking at a brisk pace for periods you reduce stress on the leg muscles and cardiovascular system. Walk the hard ups and downs on a trail until you develop the skill and technique to manage them successfully.

6. Wilderness 101. OK so running in a local park might not be too far away from the urban jungle but running far from home in a National Park or similar might entail a new set of challenges. Learn about the basics of wilderness traveling and feel safe on the trail. Most trails become fairly free of traffic only a few miles from the trail-head, one wrong step could mean a night outdoors.

7. Develop a Training Plan. However simple or complex having a plan will help. You can track progress against goals and tweak and change things to allow you to develop in the area of your choice. Go on-line and find a ready made training plan and tweak it to your own goals.

8. Keep a Logbook. Something as simple as time and distance or a more thorough record of your weight, diet, weather and trails is a useful tool for the runner. You can track how well you run and what helped or hindered your performance. The Logbook will help you tweak your training plan and facilitate the achievement of your goals.

9. Learn the ups and downs. Trail running can include some severe ups and downs, literally. Severe gradients on the trail can scupper a runner with muscle fatigue or a fall. Practice running the ups and downs; slowly at first; so that when out and about that 1:3 hill won't scupper your run.

10. Be appreciative of other trail users. Bears, rattlers, equestrians, other runner and mountain bikers all share the trails with you. Be aware of the correct trail etiquette so as to be a Trail Running Ambassador and not a Trail Running Antagonist.

11. Ditch the iPod. Natural wonders and the everyday sounds of nature are best experienced without the sound of your favourite running track. Plus you may not notice the approach of other trail users or trail critters if you are wrapped up in the exquisiteness of Beethoven's 5th.

12. Have fun and just run. Sometime the times, the training, can get in the way of a good run. Once in a while ditch all the paraphernalia and just go out and run, don't worry about times or training plans just run in the woods. You will be thankful for it when you finish.

13. Cross-train. Whether it's mountain biking, snowshoeing, yoga or weights any type of non-running exercise incorporated into your schedule will help. Using a different set of muscles will keep your running ones fresh and give you a better all-over workout at the end of a week.

14. Race. A race stimulates in different ways from a trail run. The competition might spur you on or the goal of running a PB might float your boat. The race just adds a new element into your schedule and livens things up.

15. Run year round. Spring. Summer. Autumn. Winter. The trails change as the season change and make the running experience very different and interesting. You may not be able to do that 20miler in January snow or that lunchtime run in the August heat. Change up your running to suit the seasons and you'll get the benefit and joy from running all year round.

16. Run whatever the weather. Modern gear can keep you running no matter the weather. Rain, snow, sleet and hail need not be a barrier to running. Of course exercise due caution it's just that running in the rain can be a liberating experience as can making the first footprints on a snowy morning.

17. Gear Up. From hydration backpacks to gaiters, GPS units to trekking poles. You can find a wealth of appropriate gear to help you enjoy a trail run and keep safe.

18. Understand your body. Learn to gauge your effort from your ability to talk or not. Listen to your legs and feel and learn when you are pushing too hard and when you are cruising. Understand when you are getting dehydrated. Out in the wilds you are your first line of defense against injury and accident.

19. Tread lightly. Not the pavement pounding of the road runner here. Trails have a wide variety of terrain from rocky to muddy and everything in between. Taking care where you step and making sure you tread softly will help you glide over the terrain rather than ploughing through it. You'll be faster and less likely fall if you think Mountain Goat.

20. You will never regret going on that trail run. Even if you feel lousy just go and run. Sooner or later the act of running will breeze through you and you'll be glad you set out.

How Curling Works

GOOD Blog > Andrew Price on February 22, 2010

This helpful chart (full version here) explains curling, the most confounding sport of the Winter Olympics. Basically it's shuffleboard with real-time friction management. And this video pairs curling with the Swedish heavy metal band Hammerfall.

"Life is not a matter of holding good cards, but sometimes,
playing a poor hand well." - Jack London

Junk collector or Antiquarian

from Life123.com
By: AlienOverlord626, Contributor

Anyone who has ever seen the television program "Antiques Roadshow" knows that often people may have a small fortune in their houses without realizing it. An old rug can be worth thousands. In many instances the person inherited the item from a relative and had no idea of it's true value. The chance of this happening to the average person is pretty slim. It is possibe however to enter the exciting world of the Antiquarian (someone who collects antiques) with only a minimum of preparation and cost. Here are a few simple suggestions that will help the average person get started.

Start at your local Thrift store. Often people donate old, unused furniture and household good without thinking about their possible value. People love the new, shinny gadgets that come out year after year. They are incouraged to get rid of their old things and buy new ones. This is of course foolish. New furnishings are often designed to last only a few years while older furnature can last literally for hundreds of years. 'Gradma's old table may be worth hundreds more than that new glass table.

Which brings us to the next important thing: Learn what to look for. Valuable antiques will often have the name of the craftsman who made them on an underside. Plates, dishes and silverwear will have what is called a 'watermark'. This is simply the stamp of the person or company who made it and the date it was made. Designer clothing can often be found in such places and can be purchased for a fraction of their original cost.

Special note: The reason Antique stores aren't mentioned in this section is because the people that own them often know the real value of their goods and will charge much more than that just to cover costs and profit.

Yard sales. One person's trash can literally be another's treasure. A classic example is a man (Who shall remain nameless) who bought a set of wrought iron lamps for 35 dollars. He went home and looked them up to discover they were worth 900 dollars each! The man who did this understood the two most important rules for buying antiques. 1. If it looks valuable it probably is. 2.Gold is where you find it. That is an old expression that means you have to be looking for something to find it. The man I just mentioned has been doing this for years. He enjoys filling his house with high quality furnishings and artwork for a fraction of what new furnishings would cost.

There is no rule that says you have to look for yard sales in your own neighbourhood. By taking a Saturday to check out the yardsales in town it is possible to discover a secret world of treasure.

There is another aspect to this hobby that makes it particularly appealing these days, the savings a person achieve by furnishing their homes this way. The same man furnished an entire house for 300 dollars. There are a couple of things to consider though. The popularity of television shows about antiques means there is more competition than in earlier years. The second thing to consider is the economy. There was a time when only a few people frequented yard sales and thrift stores and most of those people were poor. Such is not the case these days. It is not unusual to see new cars in the parking lots of thrift stores and parked in front of yard sales. This is where homework comes in.

The average person will look at an old crank operated record player and not realize it's an old 'Victrola' and worth it's weight in gold (even at today's rates). The simple act of research can make the difference between buying old junk and making a prudent investment.

Collecting antiques is the only hobby where a person can spend twenty dollars and recieve something worth hundreds. It is worth well worth doing even if only for fun.

"One of the most obvious facts about grownups to a child is that they have forgotten what it is like to be a child." - Randall Jarrell

The Feeling of Fishing

from Life123.com

People go fishing for the many reasons, for one they like the sport of it, reeling in the big catch after they have been trying to find it all morning. Trying to catch a good bass or catfish to fry up after a long day of work. Just going out and having a few drinks on the water with some friends and letting all the stress just seep out of you. No matter the reasons people go, it is defiantly therapeutic.

People in the deep south sometimes do a strange type of fishing where they shove their arm inside a whole in the bank and pull out catfish the size of a boat. There is one form called jug fishing where you get a milk jug or water jug and tie a heavy fishing line on it with a big hook, put on a small brim or crappie and throw it out in the water. The next morning you get up and see whats on the other end of the line. There is fly fishing which is with a lighter string and top water jigs such as bugs and feathery bait that lays on to of the water until the trout comes and takes it. It usually takes longer to reel them in because the line is so light and the fish are heavy, you can't let the tension get to tight or the line will snap.

Ice fishing is a dangerous and different kind of fishing, obviously in the north. You cut a whole in the ice on-top of the lake, drop in your bait and wait for a fish to bite. You have to be careful that the fish doesn't pull your line into the side of the ice and snap it. That is one problem with ice fishing but the fish are usually bigger and worth the cold and trouble.

Going out on the lake with a couple of friends or alone with a couple of drinks and a fishing pole can be the most stress releasing thing you can do sometimes. Just to feel the waves rocking the boat, the sun on your shoulders, and a good conversation is all the therapy you will need sometimes. Catching a fish is always a great bonus.

Grizzlies Move into Polar Bear Territory

from TreeHugger.com
by David DeFranza

In Manitoba, Canada, grizzly bears are officially listed as extirpated—a species that does not exist locally, though it is present in the wild elsewhere. With confirmed sightings in the province becoming more frequent, however, this classification may soon change.

If grizzlies become established north of Hudson Bay, researchers say, they could pose a serious threat to the region's polar bear populations.

Before 1996, biologists from the American Museum of Natural History and City College of the City University of New York claim, there was no evidence of grizzly bear activity in the area—even in the long records from Hudson Bay trapping camps spanning hundreds of years. Between 1996 and 2008, however, there were nine confirmed sightings. In 2009, there were three more.

"In Canada, both the polar and grizzly bear are federally listed as species of special concern. In Manitoba, the polar bear is provincially listed as threatened while the prairie population of the grizzly bear is listed as extirpated."

... read more story at TreeHugger.com

"The fact that man knows right from wrong proves his intellectual superiority to other creatures; but the fact that he can do wrong proves his moral inferiority to any creature that cannot." - Mark Twain

Chewing Gum Gets Healthy and Local

from TreeHugger.com
by Bonnie Alter, London

When it comes to creating new healthy eco products, chewing gum isn't the first thing that springs to mind or mouth. But if you are going to do it, just do it well. So welcome to the world of Peppersmith gum, a chewing gum made out of natural chicle and fine english peppermint.

There are no artificial flavours, colours or preservatives, and no aspartame and no petro-chemical bases in the gum. There are no sweeteners--they use wood sugar and mint grown in Hampshire.

The business was started last year by two friends, Mike and Dan who used to work at Innocent drinks. They say " because we're independent we can do things a little differently and plan for the future instead of just looking for short-term gain."

Their ingredients are natural and healthy... read more story at TreeHugger.com

Golf Poem

In My Hand I Hold A Ball,
White And Dimpled, Rather Small.
Oh, How Bland It Does Appear,
This Harmless Looking Little Sphere.

By Its Size I Could Not Guess,
The Awesome Strength It Does Possess.
But Since I Fell Beneath Its Spell,
I've Wandered Through The Fires Of Hell.

My Life Has Not Been Quite The Same,
Since I Chose To Play This Stupid Game.
It Rules My Mind For Hours On End,
A Fortune It Has Made Me Spend.

It Has Made Me Yell, Curse And Cry,
I Hate Myself And Want To Die.
It Promises A Thing Called Par,
If I Can Hit It Straight And Far.

To Master Such A Tiny Ball,
Should Not Be Very Hard At All.
But My Desires The Ball Refuses,
And Does Exactly As It Chooses.

It Hooks And Slices, Dribbles And Dies,
And Even Disappears Before My Eyes.
Often It Will Have A Whim,
To Hit A Tree Or Take A Swim.

With Miles Of Grass On Which To Land,
It Finds A Tiny Patch Of Sand.
Then Has Me Offering Up My Soul,
If Only It Would Find The Hole.

It's Made Me Whimper Like A Pup,
And Swear That I Will Give It Up.
And Take To Drink To Ease My Sorrow,
But The Ball Knows ... I'll Be Back Tomorrow.


Stand proud you noble swingers of clubs and losers of balls ...

A recent study found the average golfer walks about 900 miles a year.

Another study found golfers drink, on average, 22 gallons of alcohol a year.

That means, on average, golfers get about 41 miles to the gallon.

Kind of makes you proud. I Almost feel like a hybrid.

Who Got It Right With Olympic Architecture, Beijing or Vancouver?

from TreeHugger.com
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto

The New York Times describes how the glorious stadia and facilities built for the 2008 Olympics are virtually empty, sort of a Field of Dreams where they built it, but nobody is coming.
Alas, after the 2008 Olympics, the ticket buyers haven't come. Right now, the Bird's Nest serves as a winter amusement park known as the Happy Ice and Snow Season. In April, a promoter may stage a celebrity rock concert to "establish China as a world leader for global peace and a healthier planet." Or not. After that, the government says it may build a shopping center there.

Meanwhile in Vancouver, everyone is complaining about the banality and cheapness of the Olympic facilities. Who got it right?... more story at TreeHugger.com

New Pictures of Earth Tweeted From Space

photo of Casa Blanca, Morocco from space

from TreeHugger.com
by Stephen Messenger, Porto Alegre, Brazil

In what is perhaps the final frontier for Internet access, Japanese astronaut Soichi Noguchi shared photos he had taken of Earth from the International Space Station via his Twitter page. In addition to scenic locations and sprawling urban centers, Noguchi's photos provide some of the first looks of Haiti's capital, Port-Au-Prince, just weeks after it was devastated by the recent earthquake. Like the first photographs of Earth from space in the 1960s were humbling in their depiction of our planet as a fragile blue marble in the vastness of space, Noguchi's photos not only remind us of our impact on the environment, but also how far we've come technologically.
...read more story at TreeHugger.com