Cork flooring Bizpals

Category Flooring Contractors

Fabulous Flooring: Eco-Friendly, Cozy Cork

When you finished up your spring cleaning earlier this month, maybe you cast your eye around your home and realized the flooring in one or two rooms looked beat-up and worse for wear. If you're searching for a flooring option that's eco-friendly, comfortable to walk on, durable, and attractive, think about cork floors.

Eco-Friendly and Healthy Flooring Choice

Harvested from the bark of the cork tree without killing the tree, cork flooring is very sustainable, making it a great choice. Cork flooring is actually manufactured from the by-products that are left from making corks for wine bottles, which makes it even more environmentally friendly. And it's a healthy material because it doesn't trap allergens like pet dander, pollen and dust the way carpet can, making it an appropriate option for homes with family members who have allergies or asthma. Cork does trap both heat and sound however, due to the air between its cells. When used as flooring, cork can help cut down on your bills by keeping your rooms warmer. And its natural insulating properties make it a great choice if you don't want to hear all the sounds and footsteps coming from an upstairs room. For instance, if you use cork flooring for the playroom, your children will have a warm, soft floor to romp around on without giving the grown-ups a headache, and if you're a condo dweller, your downstairs neighbors will bless you for installing a cork floor! Also, cork is fire-resistant, and it's more slip-resistant than vinyl or linoleum, which makes it a good pick for kitchen flooring.

Comfortable, Warm and Attractive

If you've ever tried to stick a cork back into a wine bottle, you'll appreciate that cork is a naturally springy material that has a lot of bounce. Cork is comfortable to walk on and the air between its fibers gives it shock-absorbency and makes it supportive if you spend a lot of time standing—when you're prepping food in the kitchen, for instance. And the natural appearance of this material is so attractive! If you haven't yet looked at the options available, you might be surprised at the range of shades and textures of cork that are on offer. The natural color of cork is a beautiful golden-brown, but it can be purchased in a variety of stain colors too. Cork can also be cut into numerous shapes and sizes, increasing its flexibility for design.

Maintenance

Cork is a low maintenance form of flooring. It's usually purchased with a protective sealant already applied but check with your vendor or a flooring contractor to see if they recommend coating the brand of flooring you've chosen with polyurethane to protect it further. Regular sweeping and dry mopping will keep your floor clean and also prolong its life. Cork is very durable, but it can be scratched or nicked by heavy objects. It's a good idea to put pads on the feet of any furniture that gets moved around frequently, like chairs, to prevent scratches. Cork is naturally water-resistant and is resistant to mold and mildew. However, it's not waterproof, so if you install a cork floor in the bathroom, place bathmats around the shower, tub and sink to protect the floor, especially if the kids' bath time gets a little too lively.

Installation

If you're installing cork flooring, it's recommended that you unpack the flooring 72 hours beforehand and leave it in the room where it will be laid, so it can acclimatize to the space. If you're installing “click-together” flooring, you need to remember that cork will expand and contract due to changes in the surrounding environment. You should leave a half-inch expansion gap around the edge when you install cork flooring, which can easily be covered by the baseboard.
If you've decided that cork flooring is a good choice for you, use our Services Directory to find top flooring contractors. And our system of reviews will allow you to rate the performance of your contractor once the job is done.

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Is social media working for your business Bizpals

Category Real Estate Agents

Is Social Media Working For Small Businesses?

Every day more businesses start a social media campaign. Facebook and Twitter are the standards, with some visually-oriented companies branching out into Pinterest and Instagram. But is social media marketing really worth the effort for small businesses?

Where the Leads Are

Small business owners are aware that more and more Americans check their Facebook and Twitter accounts several times a day, using their mobile devices to keep in touch with their social networks. It makes sense that companies want to be where their potential customers are, using social media to pursue and hopefully convert leads. And real estate agents in particular, are an example of the kind of small business that could really make use of social media. Real estate businesses are built on the fact that customers want to hire agents that they trust and social media channels like Facebook can be a good tool for real estate agents to build relationships with clients or followers that they hope will become clients in the future.

Social Media Takes Time

If you're a real estate agent, you're used to multi-tasking and having many demands on your time. Let's take the case of a hypothetical "typical" agent, Jane Smith. Jane is one of the many real estate agents who run their business single-handedly. She's fully committed to helping her clients, and that often means long hours. If a client wants to tour a house in the evening after work or needs Jane to come over and take pictures of their home for an online listing on the weekend, she's happy to accommodate them. And in addition to all her other tasks, Jane takes a proactive approach to social media. She tweets regularly, she takes pictures of landmarks and beautiful views in her neighborhood to upload on Instagram, and she shares personal stories on Facebook about successful deals and clients she's helped. She also checks the websites of local and regional news sources for stories that her social media followers might find interesting, and spends time each day networking with colleagues, local businesses and potential clients on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. Jane is putting a lot of effort into social media – but is it paying off?

Is Social Media Worth While for a Small Business?

A recent study of small businesses using social media to promote themselves had some interesting data. The survey by Manta found that while some small companies see some or a marked increase in business as a result of social media engagement, about 61% of small businesses don't see any return on their social media activity. Still, almost 50% of small businesses surveyed said that they had increased the time spent on social media. Surprisingly, 18% of respondents said that Facebook was the hardest social media platform to maintain. One reason for the failure of social media outreach may be that small businesses aren't running very skillful campaigns. According to Pat Springer, the CEO of Manta, businesses should be more proactive in using resources like online forums and social media to connect with each other for advice.

Adjusting Social Media Strategy

After reading the study about whether social media works well for small businesses, Jane decides it’s time to adjust her tactics. She's focusing on quality rather than quantity when it comes to her social media updates, and she is continually assessing what kind of content will provoke the most response from her users. She ran a Facebook contest this week that produced a lot of engagement, and—more importantly—two very promising leads, so she'll definitely be holding more contests in the future. Jane is now limiting the amount of time she spends on social media to 5 hours a week, which she considers a reasonable amount of time to spend for the number of new leads she's liable to gain. And Jane is setting aside an hour each week to connect on other networking sites, after realizing that making BizPals status updates or commenting on LinkedIn discussions are quick and easy ways to get online exposure and be seen by more of her professional network than might be the case on Facebook.
Are you tweaking your own social media strategy? Don't forget to post BizPals updates and ask your past customers for reviews that will enhance your profile and let you stand out from the crowd of real estate agents online!

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Decorate your desk with outdoor lighting

Category Electricians

Decorate Your Deck With Outdoor Lighting

Summer is on the way and it won't be too long before you're able to enjoy sitting out on the deck. By adding some stylish furniture to the deck, it can be turned into an extension of your living room that you and your family can enjoy by relaxing with a good book or barbecuing and eating outdoors. But the fun doesn't need to stop after dark. If you want to take advantage of the warm summer nights to sit outdoors, lighting your deck could be a great project you could undertake this spring.

Planning Your Lighting

If you decide you want to install lighting on your deck, it will make the process easier if you draw up an outdoor lighting plan. Examine your deck and decide if there are any features like tubs of flowering plants that you want to highlight with dramatic illumination. You might want to use softer lighting near seating areas. To make it easier to access the deck at night, rails or stairs can be illuminated. Installing lights in the caps of deck posts is another attractive option. If you're going to be using low-voltage lighting (a popular choice for deck lighting, since it's fairly easy to install and safe), mark the routing lines where the wiring will connect light fixtures to a transformer.

Choosing a Transformer

The transformer should be located next to an electrical receptacle. The size of the transformer that you should use depends on the total wattage of the fixtures that you want to install. If you're buying two floodlights, 12 post lights, and 16 stair lights, add up the total wattage of all the fixtures. When you're sizing a transformer, the rule of thumb is that you should add 25% extra capacity to the total wattage of all the lighting fixtures you are going to install. The total wattage of your lighting system (as well as the distance of the lights from the transformer) will also influence the gauge size of the wires you choose for your system.

Where to Install Lighting

When you're installing deck lighting to set a welcoming mood and make your deck safer to walk on at night, there are several options. Post cap lights that illuminate the support posts are attractive and functional. You can also install side lights on the deck railings and stair risers, or recessed lights on the deck stairs. If there is a path between your house and the deck, you might want to add landscape lighting along the path so your guests don't have to fumble their way to your barbecue! If you're grilling on the deck, consider adding task lighting too so you can see what you're cooking—perhaps a lamp that clamps onto the grill itself or to a railing nearby. A professional electrician will be able to advise you on lighting fixtures that will fit your needs and on all the options that are available, such as LED tape lighting, which is becoming popular for outdoor illumination.
If you've decided to go ahead with a lighting project, use our Services Directory to find top electricians. And use our system of reviews to evaluate the work of your electrician once the job is done.

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First time buyers- skip; these three mistakes many have made these already

Big First-Time Homeowner Mistakes to Avoid

 

Thursday’s bond market has opened relatively flat despite the release of some favorable economic news, but we should still see an improvement in this morning’s mortgage rates of approximately .250 – .375 of a discount point due to a rally during late afternoon trading Wednesday.
Added to this are worries that the Federal Reserve may start to slow its stimulus efforts, and we’re starting to see higher mortgage rates. The Mortgage Bankers Association stated that interest rates on a fixed 30-year mortgage increased to an average 3.90% which is the largest jump in 14 months.
This decreased the amount of mortgage applications even though people are still trying to buy homes. And because we’re starting to see a recovery of jobs, more people want to purchase a house. And since there aren’t a lot of houses to buy, home prices will continue to skyrocket.
So, let’s look at some mistakes to avoid if you’re a first time homeowner:

Looking Without Knowing Your Price Range or Budget

This is like looking for caviar when you’re on a beans and rice diet. You should know what you can comfortably afford today before you ask a Realtor to pull listings. The best way to achieve this is by sitting down and writing down your average expenses, looking for things you may want to give up for a little while, and getting pre-approved by a reputable mortgage loan officer. (And before you apply for pre-approval, you’ve been working on improving your credit score so there are no surprises, right?)
When you do find some good houses, have your Realtor find out the average expenses for gas, electric, water, and garbage. You can also estimate your property taxes. This gives you a better long term picture of how much the home will cost you.
Finally, contact your insurance agent for an estimate on homeowners insurance, and if you will need additional coverage for earthquakes or floods.

Not Considering Home Resale Value

You’re focused on buying a home, so planning ahead for when you may sell it may never cross your mind. But a house is also an investment. And your life will change. If you don’t have kids, you may buy a fun house in a neighborhood that doesn’t have good schools. If you decide to have kids, you’ll need to either look into private schools, or selling that fun house and buying in a different neighborhood.
When you get older, you may not want a house with three flights of stairs, or four bedrooms and three baths.
Additionally, you should drive around the neighborhood to hunt out other potential issues like a factory nearby, or a large park that gets a lot of people on weekends (and they all want to park in front of your home).

Trusting Advice or Verbal Agreements

As a first time homebuyer, you lean towards trusting what your real estate agent advises because you assume they have your best interests at heart. Usually, yes, but remember that they may not fully understand your situation and make recommendations that aren’t. So trust advice but verify. Don’t be afraid to ask questions or see if there are any other options.
And finally, a verbal agreement isn’t worth the paper it’s printed on not to mention it’s non binding. Get every part of the offer in writing when the seller agrees to your bid. If it’s not under contract, then the seller is free to reject your bid and accept one that comes in afterwards.
Put together a team of professionals to work with you, and always think with your head. It’s easy to lose focus when you buy your first home.

Shopping Guide for June

Shopping Guide for June

 

Can you believe it’s practically June already? June is the time of weddings, graduations, Father’s Day, picnics, and the longest daylight of the year.
So what are this month’s good buys and what should you say “goodbye” to? Read on!
Freebies!
Friday June 7th is National Doughnut Day. Krispy Kreme, Dunkin’ Donuts, and Tim Horton’s all offered a free doughnut last year, so keep your eyes and ears peeled for something similar this year.
Lingerie
June is usually when Victoria’s Secret unveils the semi-annual sale. Other major brands have been hopping on this bandwagon, so look for great deals from Frederick’s of Hollywood, Maidenform, and others.
Barbecuing
This is where we tell you to hold off. Don’t buy a grill this month, but rather wait until July when they go on clearance to make room for Fall and Winter items.
But food for cookouts tend to be on sale, so look for hamburgers, hot dogs, buns, cheese, charcoal, corn on the cob and watermelon to get started.
Vacations
June is the beginning of the hurricane season in the Caribbean, so now is the chance to get a bargain vacation at the last minute in the tropical isles. Yes, there could be bad weather, but it could be worth it to you.
Father’s Day
Often people buy tools for Father’s Day presents, and there will be some sales, but the best discounts will be in late October or November. So hold off if you can.
Electronics
Hold off on Apple products. They usually hold a developers conference in June, and that’s when the big announcements are made. When those announcements happen, the existing line goes on sale, but the CEO Tim Cook hinted at no new hardware until the Fall.
Laptops start to go on sale in June as part of the back-to-school marketing campaigns. Look for some good bundles along with coupons from major stores like Office Depot.
There may be better bundles later in the summer, but look for better discounts on laptops in June. Intel is about to announce its new Haswell chips, and computer manufacturers will want to clear out the previous-generation systems.
Clothing
If there are any winter wear left, you should find it for basement prices.
And men’s suits are on sale, probably because it’s wedding season, and most men usually only wear a suit to a wedding or a funeral.
Houseware
Cookware, dishware, and kitchen accessories are still all discounted right now since it’s wedding season as well as parents preparing to send their kid off to college in the fall. You could completely reboot your kitchen if you wanted to.
Odds and Ends

• Champagne is on sale thanks to all of the weddings.
• Gym memberships are on sale because everyone is wanting to be outside.
• Paint prices are low because it’s house painting season.
• Dairy is on sale because it’s National Dairy Month

Food In Season

• corn
• lettuce
• apricots
• watermelon
• peas
• strawberries
• onions
• cantaloupe
• blueberries
• peaches
• honey dew melons
• berries
• tomatoes

Look into “pick your own” farms to stock up on inexpensive fruit & vegetables, and look into freezing or canning the extra for later in the year.

Resources

We pulled our information from:
Lifehack
Money@MSN
Frugalissa Finds

Union Street festival this weekend thanks Amie Chilson SF Realtor

Union Street Festival, San Francisco, June 1 – 2

May 26, 2013 by Amie

In its 38th year, The Union Street Festival is one of San Francisco’s largest free annual events, launching the city’s summer street festivals with an atmosphere of open-air market and traditional fair ware in the heart of historic Cow Hollow, San Francisco’s premiere shopping and residential district. Featuring over 150 boutique artists from across the country, the Festival offers opportunities to browse and buy jewelry, pottery, paintings, photography, furniture and bath & body supplies while providing entertainment by the best of the Bay Area’s hardest working Indie bands.
Adding to the atmosphere of the Street Festival, over two dozen gourmet food booths and bistro style cafes plus multiple beer gardens offer nourishment while visitors absorb the sights and sounds.
June 1st and 2nd, 2013, 10:00 AM to 6:00PM PST
Union Street – Gough to Steiner
Free to attend.
For more information, click here.

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Ethnic dance festival

Ethnic Dance Festival, June 7 – 30

May 27, 2013 by Amie

The San Francisco Ethnic Dance Festival, founded to present the ethnic dance companies in the Bay Area, includes performers from throughout Northern California with over 600 dance companies and 100 different genres. During its rich history, the Festival has celebrated and fostered appreciation for the diverse cultural communities in the Bay Area and Northern California. As the first multicultural, city-sponsored ethnic dance festival in America, the Festival has a responsibility and the honor to provide an outstanding opportunity for artists who seek to present the dance expressions of their cultural and ethnic heritages. Participants come from varied socio-economical backgrounds, representing a broad range of occupations and lifestyles and during the month long festival. Students, masters and groups from regions as varied as Senegal, Tobasco and Barangay all dance together on the same stage.
The four programs, one on each weekend of the month, feature 7 to 11 companies and are comprised of performers selected from an annual audition with World Arts West, the presenter of the San Francisco Ethnic Dance Festival. WAW’s mission is to support artists sustaining the world’s diverse dance traditions by providing needed services and performance opportunities and to provide the general public with opportunities to experience and learn more about world arts and cultures. The Festival plays a crucial role in California’s cultural ecology, highlighting the diverse heart and soul of San Francisco.

Are you being outbid? Not alone are you!

Are you being outbid on multiple homes? You aren’t alone

by The Dawn Thomas Team on May 29, 2013

We came across this great article on The New York Times that is a comprehensive look at the annomaly that is multiple bids over asking and Buyers still losing out. We’ve talked about the bad combination here in the Silicon Valley Real estate market: low inventory and many, many well qualified cash buyers. You’re not alone! One of the best things that you can do for yourself is have the best representation-click here to read about how The Dawn Thomas Team has recently helped many Buyers make it to the top of the pile even in this market!
“In a housing market starved for inventory, buyers are stepping over one another to bid on desirable properties. But a high bid may not be enough — sellers are also seeking offers without mortgage contingencies.

Usually included in a sales contract, a mortgage contingency gives buyers the option of backing out if they can’t obtain financing within a specified period. And if they do back out, they can take their down payment with them.

But the combination of a competitive market and a difficult lending climate has made sellers in New York less amenable to such conditions. They want noncontingent or all-cash offers.

“When you have a market that’s heating up,” said Marc Israel, the executive vice president of Kensington Vanguard National Land Services, a title insurer, “sellers feel emboldened to say to buyers, ‘I’m not going to give you this clause because I don’t want to take the risk that you can’t get your mortgage.’ ”

The stance makes perfect sense from a seller’s viewpoint. When the market is hot, added Mr. Israel, a continuing education instructor for real estate lawyers, “the last thing sellers want to do is tie themselves up with a buyer for some extended period of time just to have the buyer cancel the contract.”

For buyers, however, signing a contract without a mortgage contingency is risky. If their financing was delayed or denied, they could forfeit their down payment.

Given the typical 10 percent down payment in New York, “you’re talking about a very significant amount of money at risk,” Mr. Israel noted.

In such a competitive market, buyers who need financing may find themselves up against those able to pay in cash or put at least 50 percent down, said Peggy Aguayo, an executive vice president of Halstead Property. It is not uncommon for high bids to be passed up for slightly lower bids that are noncontingent or all cash.

“A typical buyer with 25 or 30 percent to put down” Ms. Aguayo said, “if they don’t waive that contingency, the seller will go with someone else.”

The problem can be discouraging. Some of her buyers have decided to pull out of the market altogether until inventory loosens up.

Gea Elika, the founder and a principal broker at Elika Associates, an exclusive buyers’ brokerage, says that “almost every transaction that we’ve encountered recently has become a bidding war.” Properties that have struggled to sell may offer buyers more flexible terms, he said, but “the ones that have the momentum are the ones that just say, sorry.”

His agency never advises clients to go ahead without a mortgage contingency. For the few who decide that the property is worth taking the chance, the agency tries to minimize it by first ensuring that the building involved is warrantable — that is, that banks are willing to lend there.

“We’ll try to go to a major lender that’s preapproved the building in the last three months,” Mr. Elika said, noting that Wells Fargo and Chase have the largest preapproval lists in the city. “Then we may try to find a portfolio lender as a backup.”

Is going ahead without a contingency ever a good idea? Only if the buyer can afford it, Mr. Israel said. “The advice that I would give is, so long as you’re comfortable knowing that, if worse comes to worst, you may have to buy this property all cash, then it’s up to you whether you want to go forward,” he said. “The truth is, when you have bidding wars and people feel they’re going to miss out on an opportunity, it’s not the worst thing to go ahead without a clause — if you have the cash.’ ”

This blog is courtesy of The Dawn Thomas Team who is an award-winning Real Estate Agent team at Intero Real Estate Services in Los Altos 650-701-7822. We help nice people with selling and buying homes from Palo Alto to West San Jose!

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Lopts of sellers are holding off Dawn Thomas

A lot of would be Sellers are holding off…because they have to

by The Dawn Thomas Team on May 30, 2013

One of the biggest reasons that we aren’t seeing the growth in the Real Estate market across the country but especially here in the Silicon Valley and because of this simple fact: most people are still underwater. These aren’t homeowners who had to foreclose or short sale, they’ve had enough money to continue paying, they just don’t have enough equity/savings to move up and out. The Dawn Thomas Team personally knows of a family member that lives in Sunnyvale. She is desperate to move out and up but she doesn’t have a signifigant amount of savings and the home is just about flush, or still slightly under. A lot of would be Sellers are holding off because they have to, or they think they have to. If you’re wanting to sell your home but think you can’t, reach out to The Dawn Thomas Team today, we may be able to help.
“Despite rising home prices early in the year, a significant portion of U.S. homeowners with a mortgage — about 44 percent — still owed more on their home than it was worth or didn’t have enough equity to move at the end of the first quarter, according to Zillow’s first-quarter Negative Equity Report.
Zillow’s analysis showed that 25.4 percent of homeowners with a mortgage were underwater on their homes, while another 18.2 percent more were “effectively” underwater, with less than 20 percent equity in their homes.
Taken together, about 22.3 million U.S. homeowners likely don’t have enough equity in their homes to afford a down payment on another home, Zillow said, keeping them in their homes and preventing new inventory from hitting the market.
“Reaching positive equity, even barely, is an important milestone,” said Zillow Chief Economist Stan Humphries in a statement. “But things like real estate agents’ fees and a down payment for the next home traditionally come out of the proceeds from the prior home’s sale. Without enough equity, these costs will instead have to come out of a homeowner’s pocket, leaving many still stuck,” he said.
“Looking at the effective negative equity rate could explain why recent, healthy declines in the number of underwater borrowers haven’t yet translated into more homes for sale,” Humphries added. “The only cure is patience, as rising home values continue to build equity to the point where more homeowners can realistically sell.”
Among the 30 largest metro areas covered by Zillow, those with the highest effective negative equity rate, including homeowners with 20 percent equity or less, include Las Vegas (71.5 percent), Atlanta (64.1 percent), and Riverside, Calif. (59.7 percent).
Zillow predicts that the negative equity rate among all homeowners with a mortgage will fall to 23.5 percent by the first quarter of 2014. Of the 30 largest metro areas, the majority of these newly freed homeowners are anticipated to come from: Los Angeles (94,642 homeowners), Riverside (74,693 homeowners), and Phoenix (51,580 homeowners).”
Article by Paul Hagey

This blog is courtesy of The Dawn Thomas Team who is an award-winning Real Estate Agent team at Intero Real Estate Services in Los Altos 650-701-7822. We help nice people with selling and buying homes from Palo Alto to West San Jose!

Off market sale Pako Alto

Home for Sale Off the Public Market- Palo Alto

by The Dawn Thomas Team on May 30, 2013

Today the Dawn Thomas Team has information about an opportunity to purchase an amazing home that may or may not ever be put on the public market: in Palo Alto! This home truly is one-of-a-kind!
“Beautifully renovated circa 1926 Birge Clark designed masterpiece on a prized street in Palo Alto’s Crescent Park. Designed with great attention to detail by master craftsmen, this European styled villa spans 3 levels with 4 en suite bedrooms. Majestically sited on a approximately 20,000 square foot lot with 6340+/- square feet of living space in the main residence and approximately 800 square feet in the one bedroom guest house. The grounds and gardens are breathtaking.”

If this property interests you, please contact us today. Even off market homes are selling very quickly and with multiple offers, so prompt and decisive action is an absolute must.
Contact us today if you would like information on other off market listings that The Dawn Thomas Team is aware of.

*INFORMATION & IMAGE COURTESY Ellen Ashley WITH ALAIN PINEL REALTORS

This blog is courtesy of The Dawn Thomas Team who is an award-winning Real Estate Agent team at Intero Real Estate Services in Los Altos 650-701-7822. We help nice people with selling and buying homes from Palo Alto to West San Jose!

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what is happening in real estate Dawn Thomas

Beyond the Headlines- What’s Happening in Real Estate Pt 33

by The Dawn Thomas Team on May 31, 2013

The Dawn Thomas Team is constantly trying to keep our clients and the inquiring public up to date on the goings-on of the Real Estate Market. These days there is so much information coming out daily that it’s hard to keep it all straight and not miss important articles. We’ve recently written about sellers, buyers, taxes and loans-all of these things are important factors in the Real Estate Market-a very integral arm of our current economic climate. So today we give you two articles–and a bit of advice– that we think are important for you, our clients and the public, to know. Read on! [click to continue…]

This blog is courtesy of The Dawn Thomas Team who is an award-winning Real Estate Agent team at Intero Real Estate Services in Los Altos 650-701-7822. We help nice people with selling and buying homes from Palo Alto to West San Jose!

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You have the power coach Vicki

You Have The Power…

by Vicki Garcia on May 30, 2013

It’s true! You have the power to banish these evils from your life. Which one plagues you most often? Which one keeps you up at night? Start with that one. Choose to conquer it on a daily basis until it is no longer an ongoing issue for you. Need help? Contact me today for a coaching consultation. There is no obligation and this may be a conversation that could change your life.

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Is Your 5 Minutes Up?

by Vicki Garcia on May 7, 2013

Don’t be the one who exceeds the limit today!

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Who Do You Spend Your Time With?

March 19, 2013

Do you surround yourself with people who hold the same opinions that you do? Do they always say what you want to hear? Do they agree with you? This may not be a good thing. Surround yourself with people who challenge you to change your opinion, who disagree with you. Spend time with people who [...]

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Are You Wishing or Living?

March 15, 2013

When you are in the past or the future, you are not living your life. Your life is now. This very moment. Not yesterday or tomorrow. Have you decided you’ll really be happy when ______________? Fill in the blank. Choose to live now. Choose to be happy now. That blank you filled in may never [...]

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What CAN You Do?

March 12, 2013

We spend so much time ruminating on what we can’t do that we tend to forget what we CAN do. In any given moment, all you need to do is focus on what you CAN do and then do it. You will move forward and life will be so much less stressful. When you feel [...]

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It’s All You, Baby!

March 8, 2013

There is no one but you who is responsible for your past, present or future. Get a grip on this and let go of blaming. This is the only way to happiness. Take 100% responsibility for your life.

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How To Conquer Fear

March 5, 2013

It’s the time we spend thinking about what we have to do and what scares us that makes life stressful. Action is the antidote. Stop thinking about it and just do something!

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Nothing Is Sometimes A Good Thing

March 1, 2013

Sometimes Nothing is the very best thing you can do! In a world where being busy and “communicating” is valued so highly, I think we could all stand to take this quote to heart. What does it mean for you?

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Tied house celebrates 25-years

Tied House celebrates 25 years Downtown brewpub raises a pint, hosts "beer walk" through downtown

by Nick Veronin Mountain View Voice Staff These days it's easy to take the institution of micro-brewing for granted. On a given night, just pop into one of the bars or restaurants on Castro Street and you'll likely find an array of craft brews on tap or in the bottle. But back in the 1980s, things were different. Americans didn't have much of a taste for stouts or IPAs, you couldn't buy Sierra Nevada at 7-Eleven and eating at a restaurant that brewed its own beer was unheard of. All of that has changed, of course, and Mountain View's Tied House, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary this weekend, helped spur that change. The Villa Street brew pub poured its first pint in January 1988, according to Carolyn Hopkins, marketing director for Tied House -- beating Gordon Biersch to the punch by a few months. "We're the oldest Silicon Valley micro-brewery still in existence," Hopkins claims, explaining that others began brewing before Tied House, but none have stood the test of time. To celebrate the milestone year, Tied House is sponsoring a "beer walk" through downtown Mountain View. Beer enthusiasts who purchase tickets will receive a special commemorative mug and get the chance to taste more than 20 beers as they walk up and down Castro Street visiting shops, restaurants and art galleries. The event was organized with the help of SJbeerwalk.com and the Mountain View Chamber of Commerce. A portion of the proceeds will go to benefit Student Outreach and Advancement Resource program (SOAR) -- a Chamber program for mentoring, counseling and supporting at-risk and underachieving community college students. First Drops As is the case for so many bright ideas, the concept for Tied House was the result of being in the right place at the right time. Co-founder Lou Jemison took a trip to Germany around the time when the so-called "tied house" law was being relaxed in California. The law prohibited brewers from selling their product directly to consumers, but California's AB3610 changed that, making it so that beer makers could sell suds directly to consumers, so long as they also served food. In Germany Jemison encountered bold beers he had never tasted in the states and also found that many restaurants brewed their own beer. These brew pubs were sometimes called "tied houses," as they were only allowed to sell the beer they brewed themselves, or were tied contractually to selling the beer of a certain brewer. He returned with the germ of an idea that would ultimately turn into Tied House. Jemison partnered with Ronald Manabe and began looking for a place to set up shop. Though the men were living in the Watsonville-Santa Cruz area at the time, the city wooed them. According to Hopkins, the city manager at the time, Bruce Liedstrand, worked hard to convince the pair to set up shop downtown. Community hub It was a good move for Mountain View, according to Oscar Garcia, president of the Chamber of Commerce. Tied House has become a community hub of sorts, Garcia said, and as locals have given to the restaurant, the restaurant has given back through philanthropy. "What is unique about the Tied House is that they have really embedded themselves into the Mountain View community," Garcia said, noting that the restaurant has a strong customer base for both the lunch crowd and the dinner crowd -- meaning they serve a large proportion of those who commute into the city for work as well as Mountain View residents. In addition to their loyal customer base, Garcia said, the Tied House is known as a meeting place -- for sports events, office parties and election night celebrations. Are you receiving Express, our free daily e-mail edition? See a sample and sign-up for Express.

6 new cool startups

Art

Here's 6 cool startups from Alchemy, StartX demo days (Video)

Here are three cool pitches from the latest class of startups at Stanford-affiliated StartX. (Video starts after the ad)

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Cromwell Schubarth

Senior Technology Reporter- Silicon Valley Business Journal

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In the space of about five hours, two demo day events from accelerator programs that grew out of Stanford showed just how different a startup pitch can be.
The first featured Alchemist Accelerator, founded by Stanford entrepreneurship lecturer Ravi Belani, is a for profit accelerator backed by the likes of Cisco Systems, SAP Ventures, Khosla Ventures, U.S. Venture Partners and Draper Fisher Jurvetson.
Seven Alchemist graduates offered pitches at Citrix in Santa Clara that were flashy, sporting clever graphics and plenty of polish.
In contrast, a few hours later the pitches given by the latest class of nonprofit incubator StartX were no-frills.
But don’t let the lack of polish fool you. StartX has mentored 125 startups that have raised $150 million in funding since it launched in the summer of 2009. Seven have been acquired.
Check out the accompanying video to see three new StartX graduates I particularly liked. They are:
— SoniTrack Systems, which is based on technology developed by CEO Jeff Schlosser while he was a grad student in mechanical engineering and bioengineering at Stanford. SoniTrack uses robotics and ultrasound imaging to improve radiation therapy.
One of Schlosser’s co-founders is Stanford computer science and surgery professor Kenneth Salisbury, who created a robot that Intuitive Surgical’s da Vinci system is based. The other is Dmitre Hristov, an assistant professor of oncology at Stanford who is the co-inventor of Resonant Medical’s Clarity ultrasound positioning system.
— Flame Stower, pitched by co-founder Andrew Byrnes. This startup has created a device that recharges mobile phones from heat generated from any open flame.

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Cromwell Schubarth is the Senior Technology Reporter at the Business Journal. His phone number is 408.299.1823.

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