Spring is the real season of new beginnings

by Posted in Thoughts


“Spring is the time of plans and projects.”
~Leo Tolstoy in Anna Karenina

Did you know March used to be the beginning of the year? It was, until 1752, when we transitioned from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar. Maybe our ancestors were on to something; it seems odd to begin our year in the dead of winter, the darkest season. We haven’t even put away the holiday garland when we’re expected to lay out our intentions for the new year on Jan. 1.

Wouldn’t you like more time to think through ideas and plans for the coming months? To more carefully consider the possibilities? Besides, sages have always told us to make no decisions “in the low times” and that seems like good advice. It seems that Spring is the real season of new beginnings. March comes at the waning end of winter and –if we were honest—it is the month we actually begin preparing for the year to come. Until then? We’re mostly in a holding pattern.

Daylight savings time means more light in the evening and an overall lifting of spirits. Now that we’re no longer hunkered down in the dark of winter, our days can wind down later, giving us more time to be with our families and friends—and the motivation to be more productive. Although a few last storms may hit, the certainty that warm weather is coming sustains us. Rebirth is around the corner, when fertile soil and April showers will bring a burst of beautiful, delicate-edged blooms in all colors of the rainbow.

And in our personal lives, we have an opportunity for the fresh start spring can bring on its official start day: the 21st of March. So here is the plan: wipe the slate clean every March 1. That’s when you’ll do the planning for the year. You will start thinking about your ideas for the new year on January 1, but you are not going to be in such a big hurry to set your intentions in stone. No, you’ll be planting your seeds in March, from here on out, hoping that the softer soil of spring will mean bigger and better blooms.

That’s why people go to Florida when they retire, their days of fresh starts and seed planting have come to an end, no Spring at all, just Summer, Summer, Summer and Summer to enjoy the fruits of all that seed planting. Spring is of course a good time for doing a Spring cleaning. Such a job could be bog or small depending how much junk and waste materials you want to discard. Some home owners even rent a Spring cleaning dumpster so they can remove a large qunatity of litter all at once.

This is a great idea to restart our year any time it works best for us. For people living in the desert southwest their new year is well on it’s way before most, but for others that isn’t always true. We planted our seeds last fall and our garden is actually on its last legs. It all depends on where you live. Of course we do love daylight savings so that is a consideration. But we can all start or restart whenever we want, right?

Even though people living in Los Angeles where it’s pretty much been spring or summer most of the time, (they only down to the 40’s a a couple times a year) we love the idea of beginning things in Spring. It’s our favorite time of year.

Millennials ‘Hack’ The Diamond Industry By Finding Cheaper Alternatives And It’s Brilliant

by Posted in Beauty News

Revolutions rarely happen in the jewellery world. One of them is happening right now: people have learned how to make colourless diamonds! What will happen to us?

Revolutions rarely happen in the jewellery world. One of them is happening right now: people have learned how to make colourless diamonds! What will happen to us? It’s 2019, the FTC has finally dropped its demeaning term “synthetic” towards the environmentally friendly diamonds. And until recently, laboratories used to produce just technical diamonds (those used in X-rays, telescopes, microcircuits). Everything that we know about laboratory grown diamonds promises a jeweller revolution. After all, mass buyers of stones are not millionaires who have many irrational reasons to be picky. They are ordinary people who have been given the opportunity to propose with the engagement ring not with zirconium but with “the girl’s best friend.”  

 What does marketing have in store for you?

Today there are about twenty large companies producing laboratory created diamonds in the world. The promotion of this product is as creative as it gets. For example, what would you say about:

  • Environment-friendly diamond does not harm either the earth or the people.
  • Diamonds that are a ready-made heirloom of any size, color, and shape 
  • A precious stone made of a family-artifact, like your child’s first dropped tooth or a strand of a loved one’s hair. 
  • Or even a “memorial” stone, made from the ashes of the deceased pet 

Among the most interesting cases of the pure marketing approach to the existence of this new improved technologies is the story of a scientist from Novosibirsk, who created technology to enrich fancy colour diamonds. It should transform a nondescript technical pebble of brown color into a brilliant clear water sparkling and transparent stone. However, at the moment the technology just “paints” a brown culling into a spectacular blood-red color. May we remind the reader, that earth-born red diamonds are incredibly expensive and rare, so this new tech is a real miracle of science.  

 What is the real benefit of innovation?

Literally and figuratively, man-made diamonds are perfection itself. It is not only the hardest mineral on earth but also a heat conduction champion, which does not dissolve in acid. The stone can only be burned with a very high temperature, actually, evaporate with carbon dioxide. Stella McCartney is actively interested in the environment-friendly diamond industry because they’re “green,” and produced at the expense of renewable natural energy. Besides, the origin of such gemstones has zero questions. Meanwhile, in order to find one carat of an earth-born diamond, you need to dig up twenty tons of soil. For the rest of us, mortals, such a thing is an artifact; a technological breakthrough; a thing from the future. Millennials do not just like quinoa and tofu; they still do not like child labor and respect the power of science. Lab created diamonds is the end of the mines so your choice will be highly eco-friendly and conflict-free. This, in addition to the amazing fashion-setting, they always prefer the opportunity to save the planet. All non-mined diamonds are produced in a peaceful environment and the production technology of lab-grown diamonds is rapidly progressing. According to the latest diamond industry outlook by ABN AMRO, lab diamonds producers can offer now improved quality products, which are warmly welcome by the consumers. Better sustainability perception and price/quality ratio of lab-made diamonds, as well as their social consciousness, environmentally friendly production, and emotional values, stand for real benefits of innovation in one of the most conservative branch. 

7 Steps When Selling Your House

by Posted in Marketing

selling your homeIt is common to hear people say that they are putting off the sale of their house because of the current state of the market. If you ask any good real estate agent like Kale Realty, there is no perfect time to buy or sell the home of your dream as there are various reasons why people put up their properties in the market.

The most common cause is usually related to the financial situation the homeowners are experiencing.

Declaring that your house is up for sale is not the only way to prepare your home. There are other contributing factors that play on the success of your property’s sale. Here are the steps Kale Realty recommends when you are selling your home.

1. Choose a real estate agent.

Your agent is in charge of keeping you in the loop of seller updates. Moreover, they are in charge of advertising, showing the house to prospective buyers and completing the legal requirements to sell your home successfully. You could try selling your property without using an agent or a broker, but this is not adviced as you may make costly errors along the way.

2. Determine your selling price.

The next step after choosing an agent is determining the real value of your property and how much you are willing to sell it for. A quick sale will entail you to keep the price low. However, many agents will also encourage their sellers to stick to the real value. That way when negotiations begin, there is more room for the buyers to bargain.

3. Sign an agreement with the agent or broker.

You will have to sign a contract that will legally bind you to pay the broker or the agent the commission they asked for. The agreement also includes the provisions of the advertising and many more.

4. Showing your property.

Most agents and brokers post their properties for sale online. Which means you need to photograph your house, draw up flor plans and produce online ads. It is also imperative that you and your agent get on the same page on how to present the property.

5. Entertaining buyers.

Buyers who are interested in your home will contact your agent and arrange a visit to view your house. They may also sign up to attend the open house your agent is conducting. When you and your agent starts entertaining prospective buyers, make sure to highlight the best spots of the property.

6. Negotiation begins.

Your agent will act as a mediator between you and the buyer to reach a mutual understanding of the property’s selling price. The agent will also be responsible for handling the rest of the complicated paperwork. Once everyone is in agreement, the buyer can now begin to pay.

7. Settlement day.

When everything goes according to plan, you can now hand the keys and the legal rights of your house to the new owner. Congratulations! You have now sold your home!

So if you follow the above 7 steps as highlighted by top Chicago broker Kale Realty, you will have a better start than 95% of the other sellers who did not think in depth about all these details. Prices are getting much better and the market has completely recovered from the 2008 real estate crisis.

If we have a look at the world in general, real estate markets are doing extremely well in most parts of the world. Cities like Hong Kong and Vancouver are even reaching record breaking prices with the experts talking about overheating markets. So if you want to sell your house now, this could be a great timing.

Dallas Leader in Waste Management

by Posted in Health News

Dallas waste
Dallas-Fort Worth with a population of 7.5 million people, has become the fourth most populated metropolitan area in the United States, ahead of Houston and behind New York, Los Angeles and Chicago.

At the rate of current growth (145,000 new inhabitants in 2017), they will represent a larger market than Chicago in 2030. This success is explained by the many assets of the city: it has the ninth airport in the world, the hub of American Airlines is ideally located in the center of the United States, with a cosmopolitan and multicultural population – which contrasts with the image often portrayed of Texas in Europe – and a diversified economy.

Dallas benefits from the business friendly approach of public operators in Texas and the metropolitan area; there is no state income tax in Texas. In addition, start-ups are developing in all sectors of the economy: transport, waste management, aeronautics, defense, financial services, electronics, high-tech, energy, etc.

It must be said that Dallas has lots of low-cost land and buildings and a large skilled workforce. It is also home to 21 Fortune 500 companies (AT & T, American Airlines, Texas Instruments, etc.) and 300 companies employing more than 1,000 people worldwide. The city has a very low unemployment rate (3.8% in 2018).

The two things that Dallas people hate about being associated with their city are, the assassination of President Kennedy and the inevitable television series of the 80s.

The second city of Texas that its inhabitants proudly nickname Big D., for Big Dallas, covers very contrasting social realities. The set of photos, texts and sound documentary offered to the visitor, in the exhibition “Dallas Big D” draw a portrait, far from these clichés, of this city, very green and very sparse, consisting mainly of individual houses and where the three main communities that make up its population of 1.3 million (40% Latino, 30% white and 30% African-American) live in closed neighborhoods.

Emblematic of American cities, Dallas is also the symbol of individualism and liberalism since in this state where the tax rate is zero, the public space is privatized as well as the public facilities and essential functions of the community. This produces hyper-secure and safe condominiums for some while others build homes and a socially supportive, friendly and creative life on what looks like wasteland. Lastly, this city in North America has an organization that brings it closer to African cities (objects of a previous exhibition in 2013) than the European urban model.

Like most US cities, Dallas people travel by car. This is what Benjamin did in the company of his frien the architect, traveling through the city and its surroundings explored under the sound of planes and vibrations of highway bridges, in which the song of birds floats: Dallas, nature is never far away. Throughout the meetings – anthropologist, economist, museum curator, young Latin artist … – another engine made its appearance: that of an urban universe in constant change.

DFW Airport greens the state power grid with the purchase of 100% renewable energy from Texas wind farms, directly benefiting local economies. Since 2010 the electricity network has grown from 8% renewable energy to more than 20%. DFW is partnering with Texas A & M Energy Systems Lab to adopt Continuous Commissioning to improve building heating and cooling systems, which has significantly reduced energy consumption at the airport.

In August 2017, DFW’s fleet of compressed natural gas vehicles switched to renewable natural gas, reducing carbon emissions by 79%. As part of an innovative program, DFW completed a project with View in September 2017 to install intelligent dynamic glazing technology that optimizes window shade levels to improve passenger comfort.

DFW is upgrading LED ramp lighting to improve energy efficiency and operational performance at the airport. It is estimated that this project will save 3 million kilowatt hours per year (61% improvement) and an estimated annual electricity cost of $ 240,000. This effort also involved dumpter rental Dallas services so that pollution is kept at its minimum and landfills get all the debris and junk.