Touching Up Your Hardwood Floors

If you have hardwood floors you know that with the steady foot traffic scratches, scuffs, and and chips are bound to happen. While most people won't be able to notice the imperfections it can be enough to drive you crazy knowing it's there.

If you don't want to camoflauge the blemish with an area rug or cover it with a piece of furniture here's a few suggestions for fixing the normal wear and tear on your wood floors.

#1: Marker It

You can pick up a wood stain marker from your local home improvement store. You'll probably want to get an assortment to make sure you get the right match. Even if you normally feel confident in eyeballing it, it's better to have a few options. You can test the markers on a corner of the flooring where it won't be noticed. Then cover the scratched area and watch it disappear.

#2: Oil It

Light scratches may go away when treated with lip balm or even a pecan or walnut. The oil will fill the space quickly and cleanly.

# 3: Sand It

If the cut is too deep for superficial treatment lightly take a fine sand paper to the area. Rub gently in the direction of the wood's grain. Then you wipe the area down with a cloth a mineral spirits, making sure to remove any dust created from the sanding process. Finally, using a cotton swab or soft paintbrush, lightly brush over the surface with the original stain. If you don't have the original, check your local store for a close match, making sure that you blend very carefully with the rest of the floor around the spot you're touching up. Let the stain dry for an hour, making sure that no one will walk in the area.

After taking these steps you should once again have beautiful hardwood floors that you can be proud of.

Top 50 Highest Paid Soccer Players

A list has been compiled by Futebol Finance, a Portuguese marketing agency, which comprises of the top 50 highest paid soccer players based on their club salaries for the 2009-2010 season alone. Sponsorship and advertising dollars (or Euros or Pesos) are not included. It can be quite surprising if you are a fan of the game.

Rank/Name/Country/Club/Salary

1. Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal, Real Madrid, $17.5 million)
2. Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Sweden, Barcelona, $16.1 million)
3. Lionel Messi (Argentina, Barcelona, $14.1 million)
4. Samuel Eto'o (Cameroon, Internazionale, $14.1 million)
5. Kaka (Brazil, Real Madrid, $13.4 million)
6. Emmanuel Adebayor (Togo, Manchester City, $11.4 million)
7. Karim Benzema (France, Real Madrid, $11.4 million)
8. Carlos Tevez (Argentina, Manchester City, $10.8 million)
9. John Terry (England, Chelsea, $10 million)
10. Frank Lampard (England, Chelsea, $10 million)

11. Thierry Henry (France, Barcelona, $10 million)
12. Xavi (Spain, Barcelona, $10 million)
13. Ronaldinho (Brazil, AC Milan, $10 million)
14. Steven Gerrard (England, Liverpool, $10 million)
15. Daniel Alves (Brazil, Barcelona, $9.4 million)
16. Michael Ballack (Germany, Chelsea, $8.6 million)
17. Raul (Spain, Real Madrid, $8.6 million)
18. Rio Ferdinand (England, Manchester United, $8.6 million)
19. Kolo Toure (Ivory Coast, Manchester City, $8.6 million)
20. Wayne Rooney (England, Manchester United, $8 million)

21. Robinho (Brazil, Manchester City, $8 million) *1
22. Iker Casillas (Spain, Real Madrid, $8 million)
23. Victor Valdez (Spain, Barcelona, $8 million)
24. Frederic Kanoute (Mali, Sevilla, $8 million)
25. Deco (Portugal, Chelsea, $8 million)
26. Didier Drogba (Ivory Coast, Chelsea, $7.4 million)
27. Gianluigi Buffon (Italy, Juventus, $7.4 million)
28. Francesco Totti (Italy, Roma, $7.4 million)
29. Luca Toni (Italy, Roma, $7.4 million) *2
30. David Villa (Spain, Valencia, $7.4 million)

31. Arjen Robben (Netherlands, Bayern Munich, $7.4 million)
32. Bastian Schweinsteiger (Germany, Bayern Munich, $7.4 million)
33. Ashley Cole (England, Chelsea, $7.4 million)
34. Fernando Torres (Spain, Liverpool, $7.4 million)
35. Gareth Barry (England, Manchester City, $7.4 million)
36. Patrick Vieira (France, Internazionale, $7.4 million) *3
37. Charles Puyol (Spain, Barcelona, $6.6 million)
38. Andres Iniesta (Spain, Barcelona, $6.6 million)
39. Sergio Aguero (Argentina, Atletico Madrid, $6.6 million)
40. Andreas Pirlo (Italy, AC Milan, $6.6 million)

41. Willy Sagnol (France, Bayern Munich, $6.6 million) *4
42. Frank Ribery (France, Bayern Munich, $6.6 million)
43. David Beckham (England, AC Milan, $6.6 million) *5
44. Wayne Bridge (England, Manchester City, $6.6 million)
45. Lassana Diarra (France, Real Madrid, $6.6 million)
46. Dimitar Berbatov (Bulgaria, Manchester United $6.3 million)
47. Andrei Arshavin (Russia, Arsenal, $6.3 million)
48. Nicolas Anelka (France, Chelsea, $6.3 million)
49. Ryan Giggs (Wales, Manchester United $6.3 million)
50. Alessandro Del Piero (Italy, Juventus, $6.3 million)

Players in BOLD are on new teams from the 2008-2009 season

*1 = Robinho now plays for Santos
*2 = Luca Toni is on loan from Bayern Munich
*3 = Patrick Vieira now plays for Manchester City
*4 = Willy Sagnol has retired
*5 = David Beckham is on loan from L.A. Galaxy

Transit Patterns in Art

How are people getting to work? The link below leads to an artistic way to show how people commute to their jobs. It is the the product of artist Martha Kang McGill and is based on the 2008 U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey.

Of the eight metropolitan areas in the United States that are included, Washington D.C. has the most proportion outcome among those who drive or use public transportation. Houston has the largest ratio of drivers while New York City has the most public commuters.

The other metro areas shown are Chicago, Los Angeles, Atlanta, San Francisco, and Seattle. Orange represents drivers, red stands for those who carpool, purple are those who use public transportation, blue indicates those who walk, and all others (those who bike, work at home, etc.) are shown in salmon.

http://www.metrodcliving.com/.a/6a00d8341c5cb453ef01310f2a6ba0970c-pi

Man Bulldozes Home Ahead of Foreclosure

A man in Moscow, Ohio has taken unique steps against a bank forclosing on the house he, himself built. Terry Hoskins tore his $350,000 home down with a bulldozer.

Hoskins has been in struggle with RiverHill Bank over his home for over a decade after the Internal Revenue Service placed liens on his carpet store and commercial property after his brother, and one-time business partner, sued him.

The bank claimed his house as collateral and went after both his residential and commercial properties.

Hoskins, who owed the bank $160k, said he'd gotten a $170,000 offer from someone to pay off the house, but the bank refused saying they could get more from selling it in foreclosure.

So Hoskins decided to present the bank with an ultimatum and told them he'd tear it down before he'd let them take it. And so that's what Terry did.

USA Hockey Upsets Team Canada

The United States hockey team, competing in the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, upset tournament favorite and home side Canada on Sunday night, in a 5-3 thriller of a game.

A young American squad, led by three olympic veterans all scoring goals including defenseman Brian Rafalski, Chris Drury, and Jamie Langdenbrunner, fought off a Canadian side that tied the game twice and stayed close throughout the game.

Ryan Miller made 42 saves in a lights-out performance that included a bevy of incredible stops, including the save of the tournament in flurry of the dying minutes while the Americans were hanging on to a 4-3 lead before Phil Kesler whacked in the game-clinching goal on the empty net.

The Canadians seemed to be cruising through the first two periods, content with turning on the burners when they had to in order to tie the game through Eric Staal and again through Danny Heatley, who leads the tournament with 4 goals along with USA's Rafalski, who netted two in this game.

The Americans led at every intermission, 2-1 after the first period and 3-2 after the second, but the viewer always felt that the depth of talent on Canada's roster suggested they could turn on the pressure whenever they wanted to. Unfortunately for them, it came too late.

Canada began the third period needing to kill off three consecutive penalties and the U.S. capitalized making it 4-2 with just under 13 minutes left. The Canadian's finally kicked into gear and the firing squad escalated on U.S. goalie Miller. While one goal by Sidney Crosby did slip by, Miller was up to the task, however, and made several amazing saves to preserve victory for the red, white, and blue.

This border matchup was sure to be a bruiser and it didn't disappoint as the two squads made up entirely of NHL players left it all on the ice. There was hard skating, huge hits, and immense passion on display as the teams battled for the top slot in Group A.

The spoils of the game for USA, are a first round bye in the playoffs where they will meet the winner of a game between Switzerland and Belarus. Canada will face Germany for the right to face another arch-rival; the Russians.

Referrals; a Realtor's best friend

While most Realtors' business come from other means, most still cherish referrals. These types of leads are largely thought of as the least expensive and most promising to pick up in the industry. In most markets real estate brokers who focus on referrals are usually among the largest producers. While they don't aways come in vast quantities the quality of these leads are usually much better.

Here are 5 tips from HomeGain.com to help get more referrals:

1) Satisfied Customers

You won’t get too many referrals if you don’t provide good service. Clients who are happy with your service are more likely to refer people to you. Keep your name in front of your past customers consistently. They will forget about you if you don’t touch them often enough. Unfortunately, I have found this out the hard way.

2) Networking

Do you spend time at networking events? This can be a successful way to generate referral business. People do business with people they know and like. It is not uncommon to see several Realtors at networking meetings. Make networking fun and not a chore. If you get some business out of it that is great, if not at least you had a good time.

3) Vendors

How about getting referrals from an appraiser, interior designer, painter or handyman? These can be great sources for referrals. Buy these people lunch, give them gift cards or provide something else of value. Let them know that you are looking for referrals.

4) Don’t Be Frightened

Don’t be frightened to ask for referrals. You should not be ashamed to ask for them. Instead of asking, “Do you know anyone else who could use my services?” ask, “Who do you know who could use my services?”

5) Closing Gifts

This may be the last thing your client remembers about the transaction. A great closing gift could produce a few extra referrals every year. You may want to deliver the closing gift a week or two after the closing. This way you can check on your clients and make sure everything is hunky dory. They will most likely remember this and they will feel that you went that extra mile for them.

Top 10 Ultimate Bands (February 18, 2010 Edition)

As I haven't written a music blog recently I decided today I would put down on paper (so to speak) a list that I've been working on for a while, but never quite stays the same. It's an exercise in both futility and the evolution of my musical tastes (though not always over time; sometimes it just depends on the day or my mood).

The list is my imagination's attempt at creating the ultimate band; lead singer, guitarist, bass, and drums. Nothing fancy (although occassionally I will add a pianist/keyboardist, DJ/turntablist, and/or brass section). I always have an extremely hard time widdling the list down to one person so I create a Top 10 at each instrument. The rules are, there are no rules. There are no constraints on time, genre, dead or alive, or even primary instrumentation. Now obviously I have to have heard their music, not as a rule but just general common sense.

Having laid down the background, here's my Top Ten Ultimate Bands for February 18, 2010:

Singer:
1. Bob Marley (The Wailers)
2. Jim Morrison (The Doors)
3. Marvin Gaye
4. Robert Plant (Led Zeppelin)
5. Arethra Franklin
6. Johnny Cash
7. Bob Dylan
8. Al Green
9. John Lennon (The Beatles)
10. Van Morrison

Guitarist:
1. Jimi Hendrix
2. Eric Clapton (Cream)
3. Jimmy Page (Led Zeppelin)
4. Jerry Garcia (The Grateful Dead)
5. Kirk Hammett (Metallica)
6. John Mayer
7. Tom Morello (Rage Against the Machine)
8. Duane Allman (The Allman Brothers Band)
9. Jeff Beck (Yardbirds)
10. Keith Richards (The Rolling Stones)

Bassist:
1. Flea (Red Hot Chili Peppers)
2. Les Claypool (Primus)
3. Geddy Lee (Rush)
4. Victor Wooten (The Flecktones)
5. Justin Chancellor (Tool)
6. P-Nut (311)
7. Bootsy Collins (Parliament)
8. Aston Barrett (The Wailers)
9. John Paul Jones (Led Zeppelin)
10. Phil Lesh (The Grateful Dead)

Drummer:
1. Carter Beauford (Dave Matthews Band)
2. John Bonham (Led Zeppelin)
3. Neil Pert (Rush)
4. Keith Moon (The Who)
5. Danny Carey (Tool)
6. Dave Grohl (Nirvana)
7. Travis Barker (Blink-182)
8. Phil Collins (Genesis)
9. Lars Ulrich (Metallica)
10. Jon Theodore (Mars Volta)

By: David