Consider These Four Points Before You Make An Offer To Buy An Investment Property

Point #1: You must have a clear goal for the property that you are purchasing.

Incredibly, many people make investment decisions because someone told them about a great idea or opportunity. They never put pen to paper to even figure out if a profit is possible! Others buy property or investments and have no clear cut return they are shooting for or a game plan on how to get it.

What is your goal for this purchase?
What return are you looking for on a year basis?
How many years are you planning ot hold the property?
Are you trying to buy a fixer-upper?
Are you hoping to renovate it and fully rent it out and sell it?
When are you going to try to sell the property?

The above are just starting points for you to start to inquire within yourself before you buy a piece of property. The point is to never buy a piece of real estate investment property unless you know why you are buying the property, your expected return on your investment and your exit strategy for getting out of the property with a profit.

HELPFUL TIP: Before you go into contract, run your deal by a commercial mortgage professional, Get expert advice BEFORE you commit! They can alert you to the pitfalls and even bring creative financing strategies to the deal to maximize your return.

Point #2: Thinking only about the Interest Rate that you have been offered

The lowest interest rate is NOT necessarily the best deal for commercial property. Amortization is just as important. Amortization is the length of time the payment will be factored over, the longer the amortization, the lower the payment. Depending on your goal, the lower payment yields you better cash flow and more profit per year-better ROI (return on investment).

For example, a $500,000 mortgage with a 10-year balloon and a 15-year amortization at 5.5% interest rate yields a payment of $4,085/month. The same mortgage with a 25-year amortization but a rate of 6% yields a payment of $3,221/month. Same loan amount, ? a percent higher rate but because of the longer amortization your monthly payment is over $800 less per month. If the cash flow on the property was going to net you $1000 a month at the 5.5% rate this extra $800 a month or $9,600 per year, now that's a better return on your investment due to the longer amortization. Over 80%!

Point #3: Knowing when to shop, and knowing when to stop shopping.

Remember, on commercial loans even if you are a great borrower-you may still get turned down by your local bank. Why? The property may not be good. By that we mean that the bank may have a required debt service coverage ratio, and your deals cash flow does not meet that lenders requirement; they may have filled their quota for the month on commercial loans, or they may just not like to loan on the certain type of property you are buying. Don?t take it personally.

Almost as bad as just going to one bank and putting all your eggs in that basket is shopping around and getting a commitment at terms you like that make the deal profitable and meet your goals and then CONTINUING TO SHOP! If you get what you wanted-don?t be greedy. Wall Street has a saying, ?Bulls and bears make money, Pigs get slaughtered?.

HELPFUL TIP: Don?t look a gift horse in the mouth. If you know the profitability you wanted and the lender is agreeing to your deal offer up any reasonable requested commitment fee, and let the broker or lender do their job to close that loan for you.

Point #4: Emotions - Loving the deal and ignoring economic sense.

I have seen people try to buy a piece of property and lender after lender turns it down because the value is not justified or something. Yet, instead of realizing that smart financial people are telling you the deal is bad they persist to keep trying to buy it.

Sometimes even getting hard private money at exorbitant rates that will never generate a profit for you Remember, banks and lenders are in the business of lending you money. They want to lend money on deals that make sense. If EVERYONE says your deal does not make sense LISTEN TO THEM.

Get out of the deal or partner with someone who knows how to make it work or something. Don?t resort to ridiculous interest rates because you believe you HAVE to have this property. Again, heed advice and be smart.

HELPFUL TIP: Besides speaking to an expert BEFORE buying- put pen to paper and make sure the deal makes economic sense, not just emotional sense. In commercial property purchases its economics that must rule, not emotions.

I trust that these four points will put YOU more in control when making your next buying decision for purchasing investment real estate.

Harlan A. Friedman, Esq., is president of Lightning Commercial Funding Inc., a California mortgage broker. He has more than 25 years of experience as an investment banker and financial consultant, issuing municipal debt for his clients. Lightning Commercial Funding specializes in financing commercial projects exclusively, from the startup of new business to large commercial transactions. Reach Friedman at (858) 592-0659 or harlan@loanforbiz.com.

Visit his company at http://www.loanforbiz.com.

Online Backgammon Tournaments

Nearly Everyone Uses It and So What?

Occasionally a prospective client comes to me very gungho about getting publicity and declares that they envision coverage in every major newspaper in the country and on every network broadcast. After all, their logic runs, our product is something everyone uses -- we have close to 150 million customers a year in the U.S. alone.

Whoa! I reply. That's not enough of a reason for the media to do a story. Nearly everyone uses a toothbrush and a wallet of one sort or another, but how often do you see stories about either of those items in the papers or on the nightly news? Prevalent doesn't mean interesting or timely. So let's brainstorm about what would entice the media to consider something about your item newsworthy.

By putting a spin on something ordinary, or identifying some unusual aspect of something ordinary, you have a good chance of getting major media hits. For instance:

* Create a controversy. E.g., claim that 90% of Americans use each toothbrush far too long.

* Give an award. E.g., a prize for the world's rattiest wallet.

* Offer surprising facts about your product. E.g., how long ago people were using toothbrushes surprising similar to today's.

* Show an unexpected clientele using your product. E.g., wallets for toddlers or for nudists.

* Piggyback on the news. E.g., play up the connection if there's a toothbrush scene in a new feature film or a popular sit-com.

* Do a survey. E.g., what percentage of people never leave the house for any purpose without bringing their wallet.

* Compile a set of useful tips. E.g., ten ways you should never use a toothbrush.

* Donate your product or a gift certificate to a good cause. E.g., a new wallet for every high school graduate in your home town.

* Offer a freebie. E.g., a free call-in line for questions about dental hygiene.

* Invent a new use for your product. E.g., wallets designed for efficiency at security checkpoints.

* Tie your product to economic trends. E.g., what toothbrush sales reveal about recessions and economic booms.

* Do something anachronistic. E.g., create wallet carriers, which a butler can hold out for the man in the house when he comes home from work.

* Sponsor a charity event. E.g., the Toothbrush Ball.

* Do something about your environmental impact. E.g., recyclable wallets.

* Celebrate an anniversary. E.g., your 10 millionth toothbrush sold.

* Create regional variations. E.g., the Tall Texan wallet, the Seattle Surprise, the Plains Packer.

* Get offbeat endorsements. E.g., from a punk rocker, a bartender, a has-been politician for your toothbrushes.

* Feature employees with stories. E.g., an over-80 wallet designer, marketing vice-presidents who are twins.

* Run an event for kids. E.g., develop a show that travels to day-care centers on how to brush teeth.

Once you have a newsworthy angle, then the ambition to get your story into every household in the country makes more sense!

Marcia Yudkin is the author of the classic guide to comprehensive PR, 6 Steps to Free Publicity, now for sale in an updated edition at Amazon.com and in bookstores everywhere. She also spills the secrets on advanced tactics for today's publicity seekers in Powerful, Painless Online Publicity, available from www.yudkin.com/powerpr.htm .

Oregon Commercial Real Estate

Real estate is broadly categorized into two types. This includes residential and commercial real estate. As the name suggests, the latter revolves around sale and lease of property that is intended for use in trade and business. This includes a wide range of business opportunities including shopping malls, gas stations, car parks and office buildings. The Oregon commercial real estate market is huge and encompasses innumerable viable plots and property.

Oregon commercial real estate could refer to an empty plot of land, a building, a store or multiple shops, or even a park. The instant any property is to be used for a business purpose, it is categorized as commercial real estate. Oregon commercial real estate includes land, as well as anything that is permanently built or fixed onto it. These fixtures include nursing homes, buildings and fences. They also refer to pipes, plumbing, heating devices and light fixtures that are inbuilt or fixed on the exterior of a building. Commercial real estate can be purchased, sold or rented as required. Such commitments prove to be profitable for real estate agents who deal in them. Since commercial real estate deals with profitability in the long run, entrepreneurs do no rush into such commitments. It is important to find an Oregon commercial real estate property that is feasible and can help increase trade.

Price points for Oregon commercial real estate depend upon their location. Areas that are established as commercially profitable are categorized within higher price brackets, as compared to others located in developing areas. Their rates are calculated differently from residential real estate. A number of Oregon real estate listing companies have dedicated commercial real estate databases that are easy to access and designed to help clients find a viable property in a short time. Before finalizing an Oregon commercial real estate deal, it is important to ensure the property is not blacklisted and all fixtures within it are in compliance with state regulations.

Oregon Real Estate provides detailed information on Oregon Real Estate, Portland Oregon Real Estate, Bend Oregon Real Estate, Oregon Coast Real Estate and more. Oregon Real Estate is affiliated with Denver Real Estate Agents.

Love and Health

The Love-Health Relationship:
Dr. Gray is the author of many books including the fabulously successful book Men are From Mars, Women are From Venus. Another of his books addresses how some people or one person in every group or organization including a family, will be what he calls a psychic drain. There are neurons that respond when a person acts a certain way and research on monkey brains in 1996 showed some monkeys respond when they see another monkey doing something. This empathic ability can be lost or damaged in human brains due to trauma such as lifelong or early life abuse. The loss of what can be called empathy can also occur with lead poisoning and there are researchers in medicine that some label environmental medical practitioners while they emphasize the mental part of the word, who say many if not most ailments are brought on or exacerbated through pollution and food additives or other things. Thus highly functional sociopaths are often becoming our leaders while the decent empaths become victims of society

The Love-Health Relationship:
Dr. Gray is the author of many books including the fabulously successful book Men are From Mars, Women are From Venus. Another of his books addresses how some people or one person in every group or organization including a family, will be what he calls a psychic drain. There are neurons that respond when a person acts a certain way and research on monkey brains in 1996 showed some monkeys respond when they see another monkey doing something. This empathic ability can be lost or damaged in human brains due to trauma such as lifelong or early life abuse. The loss of what can be called empathy can also occur with lead poisoning and there are researchers in medicine that some label environmental medical practitioners while they emphasize the mental part of the word, who say many if not most ailments are brought on or exacerbated through pollution and food additives or other things. Thus highly functional sociopaths are often becoming our leaders while the decent empaths become victims of society

Education, Nutrition and A Personal LOVE of mine:

Dave and I went together to T. G. I. Friday's at Keystone at the Crossing on Indianapolis' north side. I saw a beautiful blond woman across the bar near the antique gas pump. It seemed that she had a halo around her head. I saw no other woman and paid no attention to anything except her. Dave and I went to stand near her and her friend. I was wearing my southern climate white suit that women in Miami had thought I looked like a member of the Miami Dolphins in after I had bought it in Coral Gables. Sherry's sister had a friend named Rick Osney who years later said: So what do you do other than make cheap suits look good? He was a retail clothing specialist. Sherry was most interested in Dave; she told me for months after, and the truth is Dave looked like a model and did some modeling and writing. I was so enchanted and enthusiastic that if it weren't for the fact that Sherry had just had a partial mastectomy and needed a worshipful admirer she would have blown me off very early, if not instantly.

I nattered on about all the success we were on the verge of achieving and the triplex we owned in Toronto as well as my travels. Sherry saw that her friend was interested in Dave. Her name was Sue Ann Blackwell. Sherry wasn't impressed by money or power but I guess the fact that I thought she was the most beautiful woman I had ever met or close to it, was a deciding factor in her agreeing to see me again. I had a policy about making love within three dates over the previous four years or I thought it wasn't likely to become a real relationship. What stupidity, eh? The limited time available in every city made this a little more justifiable than it sounds however. I remember she went to her parents in Bloomington for Thanksgiving and having her prepare a simple dinner at her place during one of our early dates. She is a Libran and over six years older than me. Libran's have the classic hourglass figure that I love and their sign is a good fit with me. I felt willing to marry her even before we made love. It was a totally ecstatic time and my infatuation was complete. With 60 hours towards her doctorate in education and a very loving family that had enabled a globally conscious person that oozed class, Sherry was my ideal.

There was a lot of conversation and I enjoyed her insights even if she didn't agree with me about whatever it was we were debating. She was open enough to hear my stories of psychic things and question the science behind them and see the possibilities. I told her that I was afraid of doing anything to cause us not to be friends but I still spoke my mind. There was no policy of three dates and I was on cloud nine. She had to make the first sexual moves. Her simple hamburger dinner was a disaster that we later laughed about for years. Yet, despite the fact that she saw I was a sweet person with all the right motivations she also feared the salesman in me. The truth became apparent in a couple of years as Dave developed a relationship with Sue Ann that he was the real 'operator' and Sherry still would keep me at arms length other than sex. I wrote poems and bought roses on may occasions. Before I left Indianapolis for Philadelphia I had made it clear I wanted to marry her.

I lost 20 pounds in 19 days while taking vitamins and eating my 1000 calorie two peanut butter sandwich diet. I was proud of my body and went back to see her. I remember meeting her at Subway Sam's and having lunch. She told me that she couldn't see me anymore if I was going to talk about marriage. Ours was to be an 'open relationship' and I felt the pangs of what other women that I had known must have felt. I adjusted and we soon were sharing talk about our other 'friends'. In a year or so, it seemed we were hurting each other. I was making more money and the business was doing well. I guess you could say I was a prime target for a lot of women who wanted wealth as part of the package. It became increasingly superficial and I trusted fewer people the richer I got.

Sherry had a couple of problems of a medical nature. Her hypoglycemia had been miss-diagnosed and she had been given massive cortisone shots that I believe had contributed to the cancer that resulted in the partial mastectomy. Women are not treated as men are when it comes to medical treatment; as well as every other aspect of misogyny in society. My studies of wholistics and hermetics were becoming quite extensive. I am going to quote authors from quite different sides of the fence.

David Depew and Bruce Weber of MIT wrote 'Darwinism Evolving' in 1995 and it says on pages 492 & 493:

They also made it harder for the scientific worldview to be received with equanimity by other sources of culture. Indeed, since the reducing impulse undermines fairly huge tracts of experience, people like Wallace, who feel deeply about protecting phenomena they regard as existentially important, frequently conclude that they have no alternative except to embrace spiritualism, and sometimes even to attack the scientific worldview itself, if that is the only way to protect important spheres of experience that have been ejected from science's confining Eden.

In response, scientists and philosophers who feel strongly about the liberating potential of a spare, materialistic worldview began to patrol the borderlands between the high-grade knowledge scientists have of natural systems and the low-grade opinions that in the view of science's most ardent defenders, dominate other spheres of culture and lead back toward the superstitious and authoritarian world of yester-year. 'Demarcating' science from other, less cognitively worthwhile forms of understanding was already a major feature of Darwin's world. A line beyond which the Newtonian paradigm could not apply was drawn at the boundary between physics and biology. We have seen how hesitant Darwin was to cross that line and what happened when he did. Twentieth-century people are sometimes prone to congratulate themselves for being above these quaint Victorian battles. They may have less reason to do so, however, than they think, for the fact is that throughout our own century, the same sort of battles with emotional overtones no less charged, have been waged at the contested line where biology meets psychology, and more generally where the natural sciences confront the human sciences. Dualisms between spirit and matter, and even between the mind and body, may have been pushed to the margins of respectable intellectual discourse. But methodological dualisms between what is covered by laws and what is to be 'hermeneutically appropriated' are still very much at the center of our cultural, or rather 'two cultural', life. Cognitive psychologists and neurophysiologists are even now busy reducing mind-states to brain-states, while interpretive or humanistic psychologists are proclaiming how meaningless the world would be if mind is nothing but brain. Interpretive anthropologists are filled with horror at what would disappear from the world if the rich cultural practices that seem to give meaning to our lives were to be shown to be little more than extremely sophisticated calculations on the part of self-interested genes. Conflicts of this sort would have given Darwin stomachaches almost as bad as the ones he endured over earlier demarcation controversies.

Hermeneuts is a new epithet for alchemists such as myself who OBSERVE and try to fit ALL the facts together and don't eject anything 'from science's confining Eden'.

The rhetorical pattern of these battles is still depressingly similar, in fact, to Huxley's confrontation with Wilberforce. Hermeneuts ridicule scientists like Hamilton, Dawkins, and Wilson when they suggest that nothing was ever known about social cooperation until biologists discovered kin selection. Reductionists in turn criticize hermeneuts, now transformed largely into 'culturists', for bringing back ghosts and gods, just as their nineteenth-century predecessors were taxed with being 'vitalists' every time they said something about the complexity of development. Humanists identify scientists with an outdated materialistic reductionism. Scientists insist that hermeneutical intentionality is little more than disguised religion.

Perhaps, a way out of this fruitless dialectic between the 'two cultures', can be found if each party could give up at least one of its cherished preconceptions. It would be a good thing, for example, if heirs of the Enlightenment Credited to Bacon, Shakespeare, Jonson and others with an alchemical background. would stop thinking that if cultural phenomena are not reduced to some sort of mechanism, religious authoritarianism will immediately flood into the breach. They should also stop assuming that nothing is really known about human beings until the spirit of reductionism gets to work. Students of the human sciences have, after all, been learning things alongside scientists ever since modernity began. Among other things they have learned that humans are individuated as persons within the bonds of cultures and cultural roles, they are bound together with others in ways no less meaningful and valuable than the ways promoted by strongly dualistic religions. By the same token, it would be helpful if advocates of the interpretive disciplines would. abandon a tacit assumption sometimes found among them that nature is so constituted that it can never accommodate the rich and meaningful cultural phenomena humanists are dedicated to protecting, and that therefore cultural 'ought never' to be allowed to slip comfortably into naturalism. Humanists seem to have internalized this belief from their reductionist enemies, whose commitment to materialism is generally inseparable from their resolve to show up large parts of culture, especially religion, as illusions. These opponents, we may safely say, take in each other's laundry.

I wonder if these authors and their reductivist buddies are aware that all humanists are not without the ability to incorporate hard physical science to an even higher factual degree than they do. The quantum physicists like Wigner (Nobel laureate), Schrdinger and Heisenberg think that humanistic richness is robbed by reductionist unspiritual thinking. The global reifying thrust of materialism (Dr. Boddy of U of T, anthropology) is hopefully, in due course, going to return to a global deifying thrust of spiritualism. The only REALITY is NATURE and it assuredly includes ALL observable facts not just the 'Toilet Philosophy'.

If I may be allowed to quote someone who tries to keep an 'open mind' and use WHATEVER WORKS even if it isn't 'modernity'. I choose to quote a wholistic doctor by the name of Zoltan Rona who has his M.D. and M. Sc. He edited the 'Encyclopedia of Natural Healing' in 1997 which says on pages 33 and 34:

It is misleading to call the natural health movement alternative medicine as is often done. Natural Medicine is considered the founder of contemporary Western medicine. What we now call modern medicine is actually an aberration, the result of social change at the dawn of industrialization in the eighteenth century.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Columnist in The ES Press Magazine
Author of Diverse Druids
Many books available at World-Mysteries.com include one this is an excerpt from called Integrating Soul and Science

15 Successful Packing Tips

You have permission to publish this article in its entirety, electronically, or in print, as long as the bylines are included. A courtesy copy of your publication, if possible, would be appreciated. Or an e-mail informing the writer of your use. piercejam@sbcglobal.net

15 Tips for Successful Packing by: Joyce Moseley Pierce
1600 words - 65 character lines

Whether you travel for business or pleasure, frequently or only occasionally, it seems that we basically pack the same things every time. Here are a few tips to help simplify the process so you don't have to stress about it every time. Remember that most of these items can be purchased when you get there, but you don't want to spend your vacation money on things you already have at home, and if you're traveling on business, you may not have time to run to the store for something you need at an 8 am meeting.

After reading through these ideas, you might want to make an itemized list of things you consider important to take. Keep it in your suitcase so it will be available next time you pack and use it as a checklist to make sure you haven't forgotten anything. If other things come to mind while you're traveling, update your list for next time, but be sure to return it to your suitcase.

Rule #1 for me is to keep it light. I traveled toBrazil for 10 days with only a carry-on rolling bag and backpack. My husband packed a rolling bag that was big enough to stuff a body into and it was difficult to manage when we stayed in hotels that didn't have elevators. I don't pack more than I can carry by myself and I try to leave a little room for those vacation purchases. I have a nylon carry-on bag that zips up into a small square that comes in handy for carrying things home if I get too carried away.

1. Pajamas or gown. I have a pair of pjs I keep in my suitcase just so I don't forget them. The reason I take pajamas instead of a gown is that hotels are usually cold and if I'm staying with friends or family, I want to be able to get up and use the bathroom without having to have a robe.

2. Underwear. Pack a pair for every day and then include extras. If you're going to be doing activities that require showering and changing clothes during the day, be sure to include enough for that. Don't forget bras and sports bras.

3. Make up and toiletries. Instead of having to remember what to take every time, go through your beauty routine at home and set out the things you use every day. Refill sample jars from trial offers, or buy travel-size containers to pack your cleansers so you don't have to pack an 8 oz. tub of cold cream. Don't forget deodorant and shaving supplies. I keep a razor in my bag all the time and just change the blade when I'm leaving again. Keep your toiletry bag stocked and leave it in your suitcase for the next trip,but be sure to check and make sure you don't need to refill any of the containers.

4. Tooth care. Instead of buying a travel size tube of toothpaste, when I get toward the bottom of my big tube, I stop using it and throw it into my toiletry bag. I also pack the floss and toothbrush the dentist gives me.

5. Feminine products. Don't forget to pack at least enough to get you by until you can get to the store. A urologist once told me that women seem prone to bladder infections while they're on vacation. If you are, you might want to pack an OTC medication that will help relieve the pain and lessen the symptoms until you can get to a doctor.

6. Medications. I have a separated pill box that holds pills for a week. Usually my trips are not that long (unfortunately!) so I'll put in what I need for each day and use the extra slots for aspirin or other things I might need while away. I have another pill box that I use for my vitamins.

7. Clothes. After considering what the weather will be, I pull clothes out and lay them on the bed. I like dark colors because those spills aren't quite so obvious as they are on light colors! I pack pants that will be interchangeable with more than one shirt. In trying to pack light, I may wear a pair of black pants more than once, but not my shirts! If you're going to a cool climate, remember to bring things to layer. It will take up less room than bulkier items. It doesn't hurt to try things on before you go, either! If you haven't worn something in awhile, it may not fit the way you remembered.

8. Accessories. Make sure you have belts if necessary. You should only need one belt if you've packed color coordinated items. Keep jewelry to a minimum.

9. Shoes. Be sure your shoes are comfortable! Don't go buy a new pair of shoes and try to break them in away from home. I plan my wardrobe so that I only need one or two pair of shoes. I've cut heels out of my wardrobe, and flats go great with long skirts or pants. If you're packing shorts, take a comfortable pair of sandals that will work with shorts or skirts. If I'm taking tennis shoes, I try to wear them on the plane because they take up too much room in the suitcase. If you're going on a business trip, be sure to polish your shoes before you pack them, and then slip them inside a plastic grocery bag so the polish doesn't rub off on your clothes. Don't forget to take socks or nylons that will fit with the shoes you've chosen to take.

10. Vacation gear. Don't forget your swimsuit, cover-up and a pair of flip-flops (we used to call them 'thongs' but now that has an entirely different meaning!). My husband always forgets swim trunks and I accuse him of just wanting to buy a new pair in every city!

11. Hair products. I have short hair that can easily air dry on its own in the summer, but I have a travel hair dryer I carry with me if I'm staying in a hotel that doesn't provide one in the room. I have a hair brush that always stays in my bag. Condense big bottles of shampoo and conditioner into smaller ones. I carry a shampoo/conditioner product with me so I only have to use one product. If you need gel or hair spray, buy travel sizes the first time, and then refill them from your big bottle when it runs out.

12. Electronics. With cell phones and computers,neither are any good to you if the batteries are dead. Be sure to take the cords with you and remember to recharge every night. Don't forget your camera, film and batteries. Take film mailers with you and send it off before you leave to have a head start on the processing, and save on those one hour prices.

13. Backpack. I always carry a backpack for things to entertain myself on the plane or in the car. About a week before I leave home, I pull the backpack out and as I think of things I want to take, I throw them in and then repack it before I leave. Seems like it's always heavy going to my destination and lighter coming home because I'm tired and pack more of it in the suitcase. If I have a connecting flight and am worried about my suitcase arriving at the same time I do, I include a change of clothes and my toiletry bag. I always carry something to read, my journal, a bottle of water and a snack. I put all travel documents in the outside pocket so they are easily accessible. Do NOT pack your manicure tools or they will be taken away from you.

14. Purse. I don't carry a purse when traveling, so I condense everything into a fanny pack and put anything else I have to have in the backpack. If I'm carrying much cash, I use one of those money pouches that hangs around your neck and can be worn under your shirt. It's a good idea not to carry all of your money in one place.

15. Maps and other. Before I visit a new place, I do some research on the internet and get driving directions from the airport. I pull information on that city that might be of interest to me and my family. Be sure to include a small sewing kit, or at least some safety pins, as well as your basic first aid supplies.

Each trip I take becomes a challenge to me to pack even better on the next one. I discover what's important to take and what's not. Having your list available as you pack for each trip allows you to pack and feel confident that you haven't forgotten anything. Of course if you are traveling with children, you'll need to take their needs into consideration, and that might include taking in-laws with you to help carry everything!

Joyce Moseley Pierce a freelance riter and owner of Emerson Publications. She is also editor of The Family First Newsletter, an ezine for families with young children. http://www.emersonpublications.com

Why I Love Strategy Games

A strategy game is one in which the skills of the play and his decision making combine to influence the outcome. Usually, strategy games come in the form of video, board or computer games. Most games involve some strategy of some sort, however, those classified as strategy games tend exact the decision making skills of the player to determine more than half of the final scores. The word strategy echoes from the military meaning military planning and tactics to achieve results. This is in contrast to games in which players can rely to a large extent on probability to win.

Strategy games vary widely and can be found with different themes. Some of the genres include abstract strategy, war games, real time tactics or strategy games, simulation, building of cities and God games. In war games for instance, there is usually an extensive simulation of past military battles involving great leaders such as Alexander the Great, some Roman Emperors and even world wars I and . The player is usually required to take on the role of an important military person such as a general or commander or even an ordinary soldier who literally has an impossible mission to save the day. Traditionally, strategy games are played with physical miniatures or on a board. With the advent of the internet, however, one can find many online strategy games to play of for those who prefer, they can download strategy games.

In addition, there are also real time strategy games and real time tactics strategy games. The former apply to certain computer games, such as NukeZone, Blizzards Warcraft and Starcraft, where the player has to make quick decisions and take fast action as the games state change constantly. The latter however, concentrates more on control and operational aspects of warfare. Examples include the Close Combat and Total War series.

Simulation strategy games attempt or use real life situations as themes. Thus the player's decisions and actions result in similar consequences as it would be in real life. Abstract strategy games, on the other hand do not necessarily use real life themes. The player must understand the logic to win the game. This includes games such as Go, Chess, Checkers. Many free online strategy games can be played on the internet as well.

God strategy games are those in which the player assumes the role of God with everything else subject to him. The challenge is to find ways and means to overcome such unbridled power. Games in this genre include Populous, Black&White and God's Playing Field which is a free online strategy game.

Economic strategy games usually simulate real life business and require the player to win in a business or economic situation. Some examples are Monopoly, Transport Tycoon, Supreme Ruler 2010, Capitalism and Railroad Tycoon. City building strategy games also allow the player to build and manage a city. There are arguments as to whether games such SimCity and City Building Games series employ the player's analytical skills at all. Nevertheless, they are considered as strategy games. There are also the turn based strategy games (TBS) which forces the user to think about the game first before committing to play. They are different from the real time counterparts in that sense.

As with many other things, the advent of the internet has changed the face of gaming. Most people especially kids and teens prefer to play games online, whether it is strategy or puzzle or from any other category. To meet these demands, there are a number of quality websites offering quality free online strategy games. There is no need to download anything, nor is there any need for plug-ins. Literally, playing online multiplayer strategy games is just a mouse click away.

As time rolls on, we are likely to see many more free strategy games available for game lovers to choose from. Certainly this is a good sign.

About the Author:

By Jake Jenkins, Free Games Fan
Play Free Online Strategy Games, Free Action Games at Strategy Games