The M&M's of Life!

I was going thru my computer this afternoon looking for something I saved in my document folder and of course I couldn't find what I was looking for. I did however find something I needed called the m & m's of life.


We always talk about taking care of ourself and sometime wonder how. Some time ago this passed my life and a nice way to treat ourself.

music - start and finish your day with music in your life


moisture - live near water, alcohol (1 oz only)


movement - exercise, non competitive


massage - relax, the best way to eliminate stress. hugs are mini massages


menu - what you eat, size & self esteem. lower fat & increase exercise


meditation - few minutes for yourself. take time for you.


myrrh - humor, share with others. laugh.


If you take care of yourself!!! Then you can give back to others


So, what are you doing to take care of yourself?

Technology?

Your road warriors could be leaving a trail of customer data behind them.

I recently read and article about Computerworld's sales department's performance and how it is measured on revenue, not on data protection. So it's no surprise that salespeople focus on closing deals, not security holes. As a result, they sometimes sacrifice security for convenience. We log onto Wi-Fi hot spots in airports to work on presentations despite the risk of being hacked. We carry reams of information, some of it propriety, on their smart phones. They transfer deal details on USB drives. Although companies have done much to address the challenges of this frequently mobile population, there's still more work to do.

1. Be wary of unsecured connections.
Salespeople have the tools to phone home from anywhere. Unfortunately, those connections aren't always secure. Even if a salesman is using his laptop at a Wi-Fi hot spot at the airport just to check sports scores, he could be putting a slew of sensitive information at risk.
IT's response: Mandate encryption and a connection to the corporate virtual private network. Peter Evans, director of marketing at IBM Internet Security Systems, says employees should always use a corporate VPN and encryption to ensure that hackers can't get in. Moreover, companies should automate the process for users so they have no excuse for trying to circumvent the rules.

2. Guard access to the CRM system.
Customer relationship management systems give sales departments an efficient way to handle information. But Rena Mears, a partner in the security and privacy services unit at Deloitte & Touche LLP, says it's often too easy for salespeople to access the system to enter, read or forward information. "You can have data proliferating in ways that you can't control," Mears says.
IT's response: Set policies governing access, and back them up with IT controls. Companies must establish who should have access to the CRM system and for what reasons, Mears says. IT should implement access controls, automated encryption and content-monitoring applications.
3. Keep a close eye on mobile devices.

Mobile devices regularly go missing as a result of carelessness or theft. In fact, a 2005 study sponsored by data protection company Pointsec Mobile Technologies (now owned by Check Point Software Technologies Inc.) found that 85,619 mobile phones, 21,460 handhelds or pocket PCs, and 4,425 laptops were left in a Chicago cab company's vehicles in a six-month period.
IT's response: Deploy security applications to company-issued devices. Businesses should require salespeople to use only company-issued mobile devices that are equipped with auto??matic protections -- boot-up and screen passwords, as well as automatic encryption of data, e-mail and hard drives, says Jonathan Gossels, president and CEO of System Experts Corp., an IT compliance and network security consultancy in Sudbury, Mass.

4. Cut the cell phone chatter.
People have a tendency to use their cell phones to carry on public discussions of confidential matters, says Howard A. Schmidt, a security strategist at International Information Systems Security Certification Consortium Inc., or (ISC)2, which offers the Certified Information Systems Security Professional certification. He remembers once hearing all of the details of a fellow traveler's business call at Dulles International Airport. "Everyone in the cabin could hear him," he says.
IT's response: Provide education. Awareness training is often enough to remind people to watch what they say and when. "We show [video of] people running their mouths really loud and ask, 'Is this you?'" says Schmidt, who has also served as the cybersecurity adviser to the White House and in security roles at eBay Inc. and Microsoft Corp.

5. Curb access to all that information.
Not everyone in the sales department has equal responsibilities. Why should they all have equal access to information? Companies often fail to ask that question, says Ed Zeitler, executive director of (ISC)2.

IT's response: Manage information access and reinforce that effort with technology. Sales managers, security personnel and IT workers should define who needs access to what information. Once that's done, IT should use access controls in databases and applications to ensure that only authorized individuals can get in. Moreover, that team of managers must update access controls when employees' responsibilities change.

Jury Finds Realtor Not to Blame for Purchase Price

A jury sided Thursday with Carlsbad real estate broker Mike Little in a closely watched lawsuit that pitted a local couple against the agent that helped them buy a home. The couple, Vern and Marty Ummel, claimed that Little neglected to mention recent sales in their neighborhood, leading them to overpay by about $150,000 for their home in July 2005.

The case attracted national attention as it posed a hot question: What are the responsibilities of a real estate agent? The real estate camp was concerned that if the plaintiffs won Thursday, it would catalyze and focus a growing urge around the country to find someone to blame -- and to hold financially responsible -- when houses aren't worth as much as their buyers once paid. Those who sided with the Ummels worried their case would be chalked up to rich people problems, a matter of a measly $150,000 in the scope of a million-dollar tract home near a golf course in North County.

With an enthusiastic and unanimous response, the jury found that Little had executed a reasonable standard of care when he showed his clients, Vern and Marty Ummel, more than 80 homes in a house hunt that began in May 2005, ultimately leaving them to their decision to pay $1.2 million for their house two months later.

In arguments delivered Thursday morning to conclude the jury trial that began last week, attorney David Bright said his client, Little, was being unfairly blamed for the Ummels' house dropping in value.

"The Ummels want to own the most desirable house and pay for the least desirable house and have Mr. Little make up the difference," he told the jury.

At a time when housing market trouble has rocked the global economy, the individual roles of people involved in the basic housing transaction have come under fire. A soaring market this decade hid a multitude of mistakes, a plethora of cut corners and fudged appraisals, because buyers could sell for a profit, nearly no matter what.

But now that the value of housing has come unhitched from what once propelled it upward by double-digit percentages year after year, a spotlight has become trained on the topic of ethics in real estate. Scores of fraud cases, underpinned by inflated appraisals and collusion between buyers' and sellers' agents, have landed in national headlines and aggravated bank losses in a major nationwide housing slump.

And arguments in this two-week trial attempted to answer some of those questions: What right did the Ummels have to expect Little to know and tell them about all of the other nearby homes? What duty do buyers have to do their own research, to challenge what their agents and appraisers and mortgage brokers tell them?

At least in this specific case, the Realtor was found to have exercised sufficient care in helping the Ummels find their house, including helping them negotiate other offers they made on houses before they settled on this one. That made an important part of the case Vern Ummel's admission on the stand that after looking at so many homes, he had a good sense of value in the neighborhood.As for the buyers' responsibilities, juror after juror gushed praise for Little and heaped criticism on the Ummels' failure to research the comparable sales themselves.

Bright argued the trial had illuminated the hard work that responsible real estate professionals, those that have been in the industry for a while, do for their clients.

"I think Realtors are scapegoats for a declining market," Bright said after the verdict was reached Thursday afternoon.

"There are always people out there who will blame someone for something that is beyond their control."But Marty Ummel, "devastated" by the conclusion of the case, said the jury's decision enables real estate agents to skimp on information they provide to their clients.

"I think it sends a bad message to people about the real estate industry," she said. "Evidently there is not the relationship of trust that I would've expected.

"The verdict marked an end of a battle that began soon after the Ummels bought a house on Amante Court in Carlsbad for $1.2 million in late July 2005. They were still unpacking when Marty found on their doorstep one day a flyer from another real estate agent, touting a recent sale of a similar-sized home down the street from the Ummels'. What caught Marty's eye: that house sold six weeks earlier for $105,000 less than they'd paid.

When they received a paper copy of their appraisal after they bought their house, the Ummels noticed the comparable sales in the neighborhood had not just lower prices, but, in their view, better amenities and larger lot sizes. A few months later, they saw another flier for a house down the street that sold for $175,000 less.

The Ummels contended their agent had misrepresented a reasonable value to pay for their house and had breached his fiduciary duty to them, acting to protect his commission instead of their best interest. They filed suits in July 2006 to that effect against their agent, Mike Little, and Re/Max Associates, the parent franchise of 14 affiliated offices in San Diego County.

The Ummels picketed, carrying signs that exclaimed "Caution, Beware: All Re/Max offices are independently owned," and "It's our money; we want justice" to Re/Max offices around the county and even to the Greenwood Hills, Colo., national headquarters of Re/Max.

The original lawsuit named the appraiser and the mortgage broker, who each settled with the Ummels for $10,000.And though the case was decided in his favor Thursday, the impact of the picketing and the media attention over the last 18 months was significant for Little, Bright said.

"It's been extremely hard," Bright said. "Now, when he looks at a client, he's got to wonder, what's going to happen? Are these people going to second-guess me?"Marty Ummel said her efforts weren't in vain. The jury spoke and the Ummels lost, but she said she was proud of herself for "doing what I thought was right.""The fact that there's dialogue on what Realtors need to do, the fact that it looks like the Realtors don't need to do as much," she named as aspects she was happy the case brought to the public consciousness.

Todd Lackner, a real estate appraiser not associated with the case, said the Ummels had "lost the battle but won the war" when it came to raising questions and delivering a hit to the reputation of real estate agents.

"I think it's scaring Realtors more than anything else," he said. "[Little] won the court case, but there's a lot of other Realtors out there that are very concerned. Not just in San Diego. It's got to be nationwide.

"I think people are a little bit more skeptical, more concerned, and rightly so," he said. "If you don't think this is the right value, don't do it."

California Agents Representing Investment Buyers

California agents have not been able to represent investors on properties which there is a notice of default filed because the law stated that buyer's agents needed to be bonded. The issue is that the bond didn't exist. Below is information from the California Association of Realtors legal department with the latest news on this subject!

C.A.R.'s Member Legal Services team has published a revised legal article, "Notice of Default and Investor-Buyer Transactions: Home Equity Sales Contracts," which has been revised to reflect the holding in the case, Schweitzer v. Westminster Investments, 157 Cal. App. 4th 1195 (2007), review denied March 26, 2008.

The Fourth District Court of Appeal held that the bond requirement under Civil Code Section 1695.17 for an equity purchaser's representative is "void for vagueness under the due process clause and may not be enforced." The California Supreme Court has declined to review this case which means that the bond requirement has been eliminated from the Home Equity Sales Contract Law.

This article can be found on the What's New and Legal Articles pages of the Legal section on C.A.R. Online (http://www.car.org/).

Want to Lower Your Credit Card Rate?

Credit cards are one of the most pervasive forms of your financial picture. On a daily basis, they provide the flexibility and freedom to reserve a hotel room, travel without carrying cash, and purchase just about anything at anytime.

As such, your credit cards can have a major impact on your financial wellbeing and even your credit score. But did you know that your credit score can also impact your credit cards...specifically your interest rates? Although some companies have abandoned the practice, many won't hesitate to raise your interest rate if your credit score declines - even if you are paying them on time! By following these tips, you can help avoid inflated interest rates on your credit cards...and perhaps even enjoy more trips to the ballpark:

Understand the terms. The best way to protect yourself from high interest rates and hikes is to read and understand your credit cards policy terms. Pay particular attention to the interest rate, how long that rate is in effect, and what actions can lead to a hike - such as a late payment on your card, a declining credit score, or even a late payment on a completely unrelated bill.

Don't be late. Making a late payment can lead to increased interest rates on all your cards. In addition, they can lower your credit score, causing you even more problems down the road. So make a schedule and always pay on time.

Watch the mail. We all get junk mail, but some of it may not be junk after all. Whenever you receive any information in the mail from your credit card, read it carefully in case any policies or interest rates are changing.

Make a call. If your rate does change, call the company. If you've made your payments on time consistently, you may be able to get your original rate restored. If the company seems hesitant, you may want to threaten to transfer your balances to another card - customers in good standing may find they have more bargaining power than they realize. And don't just threaten to make a change...actually do it if it makes sense. You may find the grass actually is greener on the other side.

Be careful what you close. Closing a card that has a current balance will likely send your interest rate soaring. In addition, closing your oldest credit cards can have a negative impact on your overall credit score.

So make sure you check and double check which cards are best to close.

Are You Molding or Molting?

Mold seems to be a growing issue in our area. There is always some mold everywhere - in the air and on many surfaces. Molds have been on the Earth for millions of years. Mold grows where there is moisture. While doing my research I came accross some information from the CDC that is worth passing along.

Mold and Your Health

Exposure to damp and moldy environments may cause a variety of health effects, or none at all. Some people are sensitive to molds. For these people, molds can cause nasal stuffiness, throat irritation, coughing or wheezing, eye irritation, or, in some cases, skin irritation. People with mold allergies may have more severe reactions. Immune-compromised people and people with chronic lung illnesses, such as obstructive lung disease, may get serious infections in their lungs when they are exposed to mold. These people should stay away from areas that are likely to have mold, such as compost piles, cut grass, and wooded areas.

A link between other adverse health effects, such as acute idiopathic pulmonary hemorrhage among infants, memory loss, or lethargy, and molds, including the mold Stachybotrys chartarum (Stachybotrys atra), has not been proven. Further studies are needed to find out what causes acute idiopathic hemorrhage and other adverse health effects.

Mold and Your Home

Mold is found both indoors and outdoors. Mold can enter your home through open doorways, windows, vents, and heating and air conditioning systems. Mold in the air outside can also attach itself to clothing, shoes, bags, and pets can and be carried indoors.

Mold will grow in places with a lot of moisture, such as around leaks in roofs, windows, or pipes, or where there has been flooding. Mold grows well on paper products, cardboard, ceiling tiles, and wood products. Mold can also grow in dust, paints, wallpaper, insulation, drywall, carpet, fabric, and upholstery.

You Can Control Mold

Inside your home you can control mold growth by:
Keeping humidity levels between 40% and 60%;
Promptly fixing leaky roofs, windows, and pipes;
Thoroughly cleaning and drying after flooding;
Ventilating shower, laundry, and cooking areas.

If mold is growing in your home, you need to clean up the mold and fix the moisture problem. Mold growth can be removed from hard surfaces with commercial products, soap and water, or a bleach solution of no more than 1 cup of bleach in 1 gallon of water.

Mold growth, which often looks like spots, can be many different colors, and can smell musty. If you can see or smell mold, a health risk may be present. You do not need to know the type of mold growing in your home, and CDC does not recommend or perform routine sampling for molds. No matter what type of mold is present, you should remove it. Since the effect of mold on people can vary greatly, either because of the amount or type of mold, you can not rely on sampling and culturing to know your health risk. Also, good sampling for mold can be expensive, and standards for judging what is and what is not an acceptable quantity of mold have not been set. The best practice is to remove the mold and work to prevent future growth.

If you choose to use bleach to clean up mold:

Never mix bleach with ammonia or other household cleaners. Mixing bleach with ammonia or other cleaning products will produce dangerous, toxic fumes.
Open windows and doors to provide fresh air.

Wear non-porous gloves and protective eye wear.

If the area to be cleaned is more than 10 square feet, consult the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) guide titled Mold Remediation in Schools and Commercial Buildings. Although focused on schools and commercial buildings, this document also applies to other building types. You can get it free by calling the EPA Indoor Air Quality Information Clearinghouse at (800) 438-4318, or by going to the EPA web site at http://www.epa.gov/mold/mold_remediation.html.

Always follow the manufacturer's instructions when using bleach or any other cleaning product.

MOLD PREVENTION TIPS

Keep the humidity level in your home between 40% and 60%. Use an air conditioner or a dehumidifier during humid months and in damp spaces, like basements.
Be sure your home has enough ventilation. Use exhaust fans which vent outside your home in the kitchen and bathroom. Make sure your clothes dryer vents outside your home.

Fix any leaks in your home's roof, walls, or plumbing so mold does not have moisture to grow.

Clean up and dry out your home thoroughly and quickly (within 24-48 hours) after flooding.
Add mold inhibitors to paints before painting.
Clean bathrooms with mold-killing products.
Remove or replace carpets and upholstery that have been soaked and cannot be dried promptly. Consider not using carpet in rooms or areas like bathrooms or basements that may have a lot of moisture.

To learn more about preventing mold in your home, see the Environmental Protection Agency's publication A Brief Guide to Mold, Moisture, and Your Home at http://www.epa.gov/iaq/molds/moldguide.html.

Information from the Center of Disease Control and Prevention

The Housing Market is OK! The High Cost of Oil is Messing Us Up!

I read an article today by Linda Tremblay that I wanted to pass along that says a lot about our market.

Everywhere you go, the news has been about foreclosures and the real estate market going downhill. I hate to tell the press, but if they would leave the housing market alone, we would be fine. Historically, the market has always had peaks and valleys. Along with this the press has send that home ownership is getting beyond our reach. As i have said before, I wish I would of bought about ten houses back then. If I sold them now, even at a reduced sale price now, I would be a millionaire.

The oil industry on the other hand is another story. The oil companies are making billions in profit as we are having to cut back on certain things to be able to drive our cars. That is bad enough and somehow we need to get away from depending on oil for our automobiles. But today I heard that the independent truckers are possibly going on strike because they can not afford the high cost of diesel.

This weekend I saw regular gas at $3.15 and deisel was $4.20. Ouch! Apparently it is costing the trucking industrymore money to run a load than they are making.This is going to cause the price of everything to go up. Look at all the materials and food that is transported by the trucking industry. This is crazy. There ae so many smart people out there, hopefully someone can come up with an alternative method to run our trucks, our homes and our cars. After all, we can send a man to the moon.