Are you looking for a home in New Jersey?

Are you currently living in New Jersey or planning on moving there? One of the biggest decisions we face in life I believe is purchasing a home. Not only are you just buying a place to live, but it's a place that will determine a number of other things: How far is it from your employer? How are the schools around the area for your kid(s)? Is the neighborhood safe? Should you buy a condo/town home or a house? These are only a few of the questions you would want to ask yourself, but also to a Realtor that you can trust. I believe having a Realtor that you can trust is very important.

I want to introduce Bruce Germinsky to you who is a real estate associate in New Jersey. Whether you're looking for a residential home or a commercial space, Bruce Germinsky can help you in this important part of your life. Bruce specializes in:

• Commercial, retail and high-end residential real estate in Monmouth County.

• Professional & medical class A office space, retail, shopping centers

• Oceanfront luxury condos, waterfront homes, etc

Bruce offers some great tips and advices selecting the right real estate agent on his website. He also has new listings so you'll always know what is being put on the market.

So if you're looking for a property in New Jersey make sure you deal with a Realtor that knows what they're doing. Let Bruce Germinsky do the work for you and make your life a little easier.

The Credit Crisis

Have you been affected by the economy? Initially I thought I would not be affected, but boy was I in for a surprise. I've been a small business owner now for about six years and during those six years we received several loans from National City Bank where we have our personal and business accounts. Our biggest loan up to date was about $33,000 for a couple of new machines and we paid that off just last year and it was paid automatically from our business checking account.

We had an opportunity to buy a new piece of equipment at an amazing price so we went ahead and made the purchase from the dealer and told him I would get a loan from my bank. After a couple of days I called the branch manager and told him I needed a loan for a new equipment and he said OK and sent the application right over. I've filled out several of these applications so it was a breeze and faxed it over to the manager the next day.

After a few days he contacted me and said that they can not approve my loan and he really could not give me a reason except for the fact that they've tighten up on their lending. His advice was that I could probably get approved if I applied for a "personal loan" not a "small business loan." So how much was I applying for? A mere $6,000! For some of you that may sound like a lot, but when you're a small business owner that is a relatively small amount.

Although I probably won't need any new equipment anytime soon, I do wonder about the "what if's." What if an older equipment breaks down? What if business slows down and I need some extra cash? My first step is to "shop" around for local community banks who are still lending to responsible business owners with good credit and if you're in the same boat as I am, I recommend you do the same.

Josh Lee
Daily Interactions With The World

The TV battle within

If you're like me, going to places like Best Buy, Target, or HHGregg makes you want to purchase the latest TV's and digital TV or LCD TV and the bigger the better. I love going into these stores on Sunday's when the NFL games are on and you can see the games on dozens of these latest TV's. Standing there just makes you want to buy one right there on the spot and I have talked myself out of buying one many times, mainly because I don't know what size to purchase.

I live in a small condo that is about 900 sq/ft so getting a huge LCD TV is not a good idea because it would look out of place, although my friends who come over to watch the games may not think so. Given the size of my living room and the distance between my couch and the wall where the digital tv would be hanging, I assume that a 42" should do the trick. This is where my ego comes in, "BIGGER THE BETTER."

2 TV's, LCD TV's and plasma tv's have become very affordable these days, but it's still good to do some research before you make a purchase. One of the first things that anybody would look at including myself is the price tag. Comparing prices is a difficult task especially when you really don't know what to look for. My advice to you is go online and type in "what to look for in an LCD tv" and see what the experts say.

I feel that I'm very close to purchasing my first LCD tv, but until then good luck in your search for the "right" digital tv for your house.

Shopwiki

No I didn't misspell it, it is S.H.O.P.W.I.K.I. This is an amazing website that helps you find the best deals on the internet. If you're like me you'll go to several different websites before making a purchase to make sure you find the best deal possible. Well now all you have to do is go to Shopwiki and type in what you're looking for and they'll do all the work for you and find the best deals on the net.

I want to focus on babies and toddlers products for this entry. Not only does Shopwiki find you the best deals, but they also provide you with a guide to purchasing things like a stroller or a car seat and many others. First time parents would find this very useful.

To give you an example I typed "car seats" in the search box and the first car seat that came up was a 2009 Priori Convertible Car Seat in Phantom. Shopwiki shows you the prices of every store they could find that offers this car seat with a picture and description of the car seat. This is an amazing place to get all the info you need on just about anything.

Creatine before your workout

I was at the gym the other day and a couple guys asked me if I took whey. I told them I take creatine right before a workout and whey protein right after the workout. They asked me what creatine did and in my whole honesty I told them I wasn't really sure exactly what it did. I was introduced to creatine by my high school football coach's son and since my football coach was a former bodybuilder I figured he knew what to take. So since then I would take creatine on and off, but never really looked into what it is and how it helps or hurts my body. I did some research online and found some interesting articles about creatine.

According to creatine.com Although creatine’s role in the energy production process is its most notable trait, there is evidence that creatine can stimulate muscle growth. It does this in a couple of different ways. By allowing you to perform more work as a result of additional energy, increased protein synthesis is stimulated. Secondly, when an abundance of creatine phosphate is stored in the muscle, the muscle will hold more water in its cells and become what is known as “volumized” or “super-hydrated.” The more volumized a muscle is, it will promote the synthesis of protein as well as deter the breakdown of protein. Volumizing the muscle will also create an environment where an increased level of Glycogen synthesis will take place. Increased protein synthesis along with training will lead to muscle growth. There is also scientific evidence that shows supplementation with creatine causes muscle tears to repair themselves quicker.

Unlike most supplements that athletes use, creatine is neither a vitamin, mineral, herb nor hormone. It is a naturally occurring amino acid that is found in our body that has the chemical name methyl guanidine-acetic acid. As most of you are already aware, amino acids are the building blocks of proteins. The majority of creatine (about 95%) is located in the skeletal muscle system, and the remaining 5% is in the brain, heart and testes. We acquire most of the creatine in our system by consuming meats and fish as well as dairy products, egg whites, nuts and seeds. Although the human body has a way of storing very high amounts of creatine to enhance recovery and muscle power, it is quite challenging to consume enough food to provide the same amount of creatine that using supplements will. In the event that you do not consume enough creatine to suit your body’s requirements, your body can synthesize it from the amino acids arginine, glycine and methionine. This manufacturing process takes place in the kidneys, liver and pancreas.

Creatine on Amazon.com

Dirty Money + Licking your fingers = Unhappy person receiving your money

Do you lick your fingers while you eat? Personally I do and watching other people do so doesn't bother me whatsoever. What does bother me is when people are about to give me some money and they lick their fingers to separate the bills. Do they not realize that I have to touch that money? I know money is dirty anyways, but to add somebody else's saliva is a whole new story. Maybe you've never thought about this before, but after reading this little post you may be surprised at how many people actually do this. If you're one of these people that lick your fingers to separate money or turn pages in a magazine or book please do the world a favor and STOP!

Insurance Company Pays After Threat To Sue

I run a dry cleaning business here in Louisville, KY and after Hurricane Ike's wind storm ripped up most of our signs I had contacted NIE, our insurance provider and reported the damages to them. A few months later I had the signs replaced and sent in the statement to NIE so they could send my money. Several weeks went by and I didn't hear anything from them so I decided to give them a call to check on the status of my claim. They told me that my claim is still being processed and to check back next week so I said OK.

Following week I call them and ask the same question and this time they tell me that what I had replaced is not a sign, but an awning so they will have to review it with their supervisor and get back to me. I waited a couple of weeks and then received a letter from NIE saying, "...awning is not covered under your Commercial Package Policy. Therefore, no claim payment will be made. Please contact your Customer Service agent to review your current Insurance coverage." I pick up the phone right away and call the claims department and asked why my claim was denied. She said it's because it's an awning and not a sign. I said, "you're telling me that this awning that has the name of my business on it and represents my business is not a sign?" She said that's correct. I told her I will contact a lawyer and see what they have to say and she says I'll be wasting my money if I got a lawyer and that they would just take more money from me. I told her we'll see about that and hung up the phone without waiting for her to respond.

I get on the internet and look up lawyers that specialize in Insurance Claims. I find one and save it to my phone so I could call them after I get some work done. After about half an hour to an hour I pick up my phone to call the lawyer and my business phone rings. I answered and it was "Cindy"(not real name) and her tone of voice had completely changed. She was very polite and said that they wanted to try to help me out and called to get some more information.

After about 5 days I called "Cindy" and asked her about the claim and she said she still hasn't had a chance to talk to her "supervisor" and that she hasn't forgotten about me. She said she will get back with me and said "thank you sir."

About an hour later she called back and told me that they were going to pay for my "awning" and that a customer service agent would be calling me to adjust our policy so we wouldn't be running into this problem in the future.

So all this to get $1500 from NIE Insurance. I kept asking myself, "what is the definition of a sign?"