Luckily for all of us we can use student airfares
which give us a guarantee of some cheap airfare. 
Unlike the rest of the trip
this is one thing that really needs to be sorted out and not
changed.  If I can save as much money finding discount airfares
as possible that would be great since international
airfares are all so far beyond all of our budgets right
now.  W all hope that when we get there we can play some shows
and get some more invites to play around the set dates.  In
between our set shows we have a few big breaks where it would be nice
to have pickup shows handed to us.  All I have to really worry
about right now are the two sign posts of the date we go and the date
we come back.  Getting those as discount flights

would allow us a little more room to have fun and not bust our butts
quite as much while we're enjoying the world.  I just hope all
of my final go well and I don't have anything hanging over my head
personally before the fall semester even begins.  

The views and opinions expressed in this page are strictly those of the page author. The contents of this page have not been reviewed or approved by the University of Minnesota.

The views and opinions expressed in this page are strictly those of the page author. The contents of this page have not been reviewed or approved by the University of Minnesota.

Planning a weekend getaway or summer
vacation will more than
likely be a little more difficult this year. 
With the growing worries about the gas prices and cost of
everything
going through the roof, it will be hard for the average American to run
off and
have an elaborate vacation while spending the last of their savings.  I am sure that all of us
are carefully
calculating our next financial move, trying to predict how the future
of this
economical crisis is going to play out. 
I think that maybe we all need to be tucking away some
money and
preparing ourselves. 

I love to vacation and truly think that we all need a little break from life to just be free of all our worries and troubles.  I don’t think that it will be truly possible to find any cheap international flights or even cheap airfares on domestic ones.  I am considering some very local travel instead possibly driving, but not too far to a destination and getting some rest for a week or so. 

I have watched the airlines discount airfares go up and up and I don’t think that these prices will be on the decline anytime soon.  Discount flights are no longer really a discount, just less than the regular prices, which are way too high.  I know that the airlines do really have to make back the money from the higher gas prices, but it seems to me that a rate hike of $20.00 a ticket should reasonably cover it.  I mean if they fill a flight than they should be able to cover the extra cost relatively easily.

In short, if planning a vacation this year, be careful not to overspend.  Keep a little on the side just in case.  Also, be sure that you stay more local, so as not to have to pay all the extra cost of the travel to your destination.  Price increases are happening regularly especially in the cost of food and transportation, so be a smart traveler, stay somewhere with a fridge if you can and pack some goodies that you get on sale at the local grocery.  Whatever you do, plan ahead and don’t count on getting any cheap international flights or cheap airfares for your trip. 

This just won’t be happening this year.

The views and opinions expressed in this page are strictly those of the page author. The contents of this page have not been reviewed or approved by the University of Minnesota.

My first experience dealing with concert
ticket brokers was
actually my first experience with a concert, too. It
was actually not a bad
experience, as far as experiences with ticket brokers
go. It was just that I
had never really dealt with buying concert tickets

before so not knowing the
logic of the web site I was using, it made things a little bit
confusing. But I
was buying tickets with a friend who had done it many times before, and
she
showed me the ropes.

I didn’t go to concerts until the tail end of high school. Most kids start going in middle school or junior high, as far as I know – my friends talk about how they used to be “so into” those silly poppy bands like Hansen and ’NSync and the Backstreet Boys, and of course the Spice Girls. Guaranteed, one of those is always the first concert they ever went to. Not that my first concert wasn’t a stereotypical one to go to, as well: it was (give you three guesses) Dave Matthews Band. And before you jump down my throat, calm down, I wasn’t even a DMB fan at the time. My friends asked me if I wanted to go to this concert with them and I said sure, but I had never heard of the band before or heard any of their songs. I tried to get the latest DMB album from a music store, but I went to a used place because I didn’t have lots of money to spend (having spent plenty already on the tickets) and so what I got was not their latest at all – and, as I later came to realize, it was also one of their worst. So I listened to it, and I thought it was kind of terrible. Well, at least I would be with my friends, I thought, and that would make it okay.

Of course, my expectations were totally reversed, and that concert started my years-long love affair with the Dave Matthews Band. It has since cooled considerably, almost to nothing, and the feeling I get from hearing a DMB song is more nostalgia than anything else. But that first concert – outside, feeling the sunset around us as the band played on and on – was something magical.

The views and opinions expressed in this page are strictly those of the page author. The contents of this page have not been reviewed or approved by the University of Minnesota.

The next year of my
life is really starting to pan out right here in front of me. 
As I am writing up this entry there sits on the desktop an internet
window with listings for Venice Apartments.  About a month ago
I had no idea what I would be doing next year and really didn;t want to
think about it.  But when I realized that if I didn;t get to
work on figuring it all out as soon as possible I would be in real
trouble when I had to start paying off my loans.  So I did a
tiny bit of research at first in to various cities and state in the
United States and came to the abrupt conclusion that this not where I
want to be a this point in my life.  So I quickly shifted my
research in to the rest of the world.  I thought about all of
the different places i have ever thought seriously about living and
made a list.  Then I looked down the list and crossed off all
of the absolutely nots.  The rest of the list was narrowed by
just thinking about my own knowledge about the countries and which ones
had more going for them that I would enjoy than the others. 

For many reason I don;t care to list here, I finally chose Italy as my
final destination and my topic of research right now.  I have
picked a different city to research each week as part of the larger
search for a place to settle in to.  The first week I just
looked in to Rome
apartments, which were a bit too expensive for me. 
The next week I looked more at the Florence
apartments market which weren't as out of my range, but they
would still be a bit of a stretch for me.  Last week I was
looking in to Venice
apartments which had some great apartments

and they all seemed to be in my range.  When I say all, I mean
all of the ones that were filtered through the computer search, there
are some multimillion dollar places in all of these cities of course,
but I won't even consider them until I get a raise.  This week
I have spent most of my time looking up Lucca
apartments and they also fit right in there with the places
in Venice.  So I think I have narrowed my search down as far
as these two cities and the next thing I want to do is go job
hunting.  I only have about two months until I would like to
move there and if I don't have a job before I go I may just have to
stay here a little bit longer until I do.  

The views and opinions expressed in this page are strictly those of the page author. The contents of this page have not been reviewed or approved by the University of Minnesota.

Does anyone know where the democratic presidential nominees
stand on the facts?   I mean I have heard a lot about Hilary and
Bill and their ganging up on Barack Obama. 
I have heard about Obama and his ties to Islam.  I don’t really watch presidential debates, I
find them extremely boring.  I know that

Obama and Clinton both have plans to get our troops out of Iraq and bring
them home.  Essentially they have voted
similarly on almost every issue while in Congress, and that to me says that
there is not really a clear dividing line between the two. On most issues Obama
and Clinton have voted in tandem. So if they are almost two peas in a pod, why
prefer one to the other? One useful dividing line, say some Democrats, is the Iraq war, but
is it really.  I mean both candidates
have a plan to end the war, so does the plan itself?

I am just not sure that this is nothing more than a
popularity contest.  You can either pick
the younger, fresher new wave of Barack Obama or the more professional,
experienced Hilary Clinton.  You can
choose a black man or a woman.  As far as
the issues go though, I really don’t think that it is going to matter.  I think that both of them think that they can
make a difference for this country; however, I am pretty skeptical.  I think that over the past 8 years, too much
harm has been done to us under the George W. Bush presidency.  I am not sure that the economy or our
popularity in the world are going to change with a new president.  I think that George W. Bush has ruled our
country as if this were a dictatorship and not a democracy.  I think that he has over ruled Congress, his
advisors, our allies and even the United Nations.  He has tossed the US Constitution aside under
the idea that it is in the interest of national security.

The scariest part is that he claims to be doing this all
under the guidance of God.  And I really
think that he believes that.  Somewhere
along the line, he was told that in war time, the president is commander and
chief and has absolute power.  Well,
personally I think that since this precedent has been set anyone can
potentially have the ultimate control of our country, now that is really scary!

The views and opinions expressed in this page are strictly those of the page author. The contents of this page have not been reviewed or approved by the University of Minnesota.

This was no ordinary day at the major pet supply retailer. No, this was
Saturday, the only day of the week when abandoned, homeless dogs were
brought from various shelters to the store to be put on display for
prospective owners. My brother and I were psyched! This was the first
time we had ever visited the store on “adoption
day” for dogs.

As soon as we stepped through the sliding glass doors, we headed
straight for the kennels. When we finally traversed the maze of aisles,
tanks and cages, we discovered that only one poor dog remained. He was
small, a foot tall at the most. He had long cream-colored hair which
roughly graced the linoleum tiled floor. Two enormous, sad, brown eyes
glanced at me from underneath the thick strands of
“moppish” hair. His matted coat was chock-full of
burrs and knots. All the other dogs had been claimed, but no one seemed
to want this underweight, loving, sad animal. No one except me, that is.

I felt an immediate connection with this special dog who we later found
out answered to the name of Custard. He welcomed my gentle touch
without growling in the way he had with my dad and younger brother. We
had to have him! I had to have him! First, however, I had to fall to my
knees and plead with the all-knowing beings that were my parents, which
isn’t such an easy task when you are an inarticulate
third-grader; a task made all the more difficult over our VOIP phone.

After many long days and nights of a secret persuasion campaign, I
managed to give them enough confidence in me to bring me all the way to
River Falls, Wisconsin, to adopt the adorably ragged canine I had met
days before. It was a long drive sitting on the small bench in the
claustrophobic cab of my dad’s tiny pickup truck, but it was
worth all the discomfort in the world when we walked into the kennels
and saw him laying on his small patch of carpet, alone and lonely.
Custard didn’t bark, jump, or growl as the dogs in the
kennels around him did; Instead, he silently and lazily licked his
paws.

This clinched the deal. We adopted him that darkening, breezy evening
and he forever became a member of the McBride clan.

A little more than a year later my Grandpa died, and Custard was there
in his wise, majestic, ball of fuzz to comfort me as I wept into his
soft, cozy hair. He was my only friend between my fourth and fifth
grade years. When we needlessly moved, and I was forced into switching
schools, he played with me every day and kept watch over me from my
side while I slept at night. Custard was and is the best friend I have
ever had, so when he became ill and required life-saving surgery two
years ago, there was no question in my mind whether or not we would
save his life. He saved mine so many times before; I couldn’t
deny the opportunity to return the favor. The surgery was long, and
expensive, but saved his life. And all of this is to the thanks of a
few phone calls on Asterisk.

The views and opinions expressed in this page are strictly those of the page author. The contents of this page have not been reviewed or approved by the University of Minnesota.

I decided this week what I am going to be doing next year.  I have looked in to a bunch of different countries and places where I could study abroad and last week I had it narrowed down to just two places.  I knew I would either be going to either Italy or Sardinia.  I had been doing my research for a while I what it came down to was both the length of the programs and the cost of both Italy Apartments and Sardinia apartments.  I know that I definitely don;t want to stay there for the whole year but I just want like a semester or half semester program.  I also know that I don't want to stay there when it's warm here so spring I think would be the best time for me to go.  So since I have made those two decisions I started looking at apartments, Italy villas and Sardinia villas, because I know that I also don;t want to stay on campus but I want to get the full experience and not just live like some touristy student.  This is just the way I roll. 

If I could completely immerse myself in either culture any more than
that it would have to happen after I am done with school because I know
I do need to get my degree done before I do anything more
intense.  I did some research in to apartments for both
countries and found some really cool villas in Italy that I really
loved.  I found that most of the Sardinia villas were a little
bit outside of my price range for the area where the transfer would be
so I have made my final decision to go to Italy.  Even though
I still have about a year left until I go, I am already feeling the
excitement every day.  Each morning while I check my e-mail I
can not help but do more research in to the area where we will be
staying which is Tuscany.  The area was also a big factor for
me because it would be really hard for me to turn down a chance to
spend any time whatsoever in the world's best wine
country.  

The views and opinions expressed in this page are strictly those of the page author. The contents of this page have not been reviewed or approved by the University of Minnesota.

Points – the narrow triangles
Bar – the strip in the center of the board, between the inner and outer boards
Bearing Off – removal of a person’s checkers (men) off the board
Containment – blocking the opponents checkers in
Boards – the 4 squares that the playing field is divided into
Inner Board – also your home board, where your 1-6 points are and the last quadrant before bearing off
Outer Board – the side of the board where your higher points are
Blot – a single man on a point
Ace – rolling a 1
Ace Point – traditional name for the one point arrow
Anchor – a point with 2 or more of your checkers in your opponent home
Prime – checkers of one players on 6 consecutive points at least 2 checkers on each
Quads – double 4’s
Hit – to move to a point, occupied by one of your opponents checkers, thus causing his checker to be moved to the bar (center of the board)
Double - offer made by one player to his opponent during the game (just before the player rolls the dice) to continue the game at twice the current stakes
Refuse the double – means the game is over and the person who refused the double loses
Accept the double – means the game play continues at twice the stakes, and the person who accepted the double is the only one who can double next in the same game
Owner of the cube – the player who accepts the double and then is the only one who can make the next double in the same game

These are just a few of the common terms used frequently in backgammon. There are many more terms for the more involved player. The game of backgammon and the concepts used are relatively simple, however, getting past the terminology especially when playing with a more advanced player can be difficult. If you know someone who playsonline backgammon, have them show you how, and then try to master the terminology as you go. If you just start reading up on all the terms before you begin trying out the game, you will probably be too overwhelmed to try it.

I know what a loan is, but what about a mortgage?

It may seem hard to believe to all of the homeowners out there, but there are large sections of society who don’t actually know what a mortgage is. They just about understand what a loan is, and they spend regularly on a credit card, but mortgages – forget it, they’re flummoxed.

Things aren’t really helped by the rather difficult to understand dictionary definition of what a mortgage is. I called on my helpful online friend Dictionary.com (who else) to help me. It threw up this result:

Mortgage – noun. 1. A conveyance of an interest in property as security for the repayment of money borrowed.

Er... what? No wonder some people don’t understand! How about this basic explanation:

In simple terms a mortgage can be put like this:

A man wants to buy a house, but it costs £200,000. He doesn’t have £200,000; he only has £20,000, so he goes to a bank to get a mortgage. A mortgage is basically a big loan that a bank gives you so you can afford the purchase straightaway. After you’ve used the loan to pay for the house, you then repay the bank over a long period of time at a rate of interest (APR). Sometimes, because of the big figures involved, this can take as long as 25 years!

In the case that you find yourself unable to make the minimum repayments for your mortgage, then you’ll run into a spot of bother. What the whole ‘interest of property as security for the repayment of money borrowed’ bit means is that your house is used as security to guarantee repayment of the loan. So, if you can’t repay, the bank takes your house – after all, they’ve technically paid for it! Take a look at Halifax if you’re shopping for a mortgage in the UK – it’s the biggest provider in the country.

On a personal loan or credit card, they don’t have these securities in place, meaning you’ll typically pay higher rates of interest due to the added risk to the lender. For one of the lowest rates in the UK (at the time of writing) take a look at Alliance and Leicester for loans – they are currently offering a competitive rate of 6.9%, and even lower if you sign up for one of their award winning current accounts.

The views and opinions expressed in this page are strictly those of the page author. The contents of this page have not been reviewed or approved by the University of Minnesota.

As I was stumbling around the internet one very fine, bright day, I came across a Unified Communications website and changed my life. It turns out, that all this time that I've been spending my money like a wholly naive sucker and or chump, I could have been calling for free using Voice over IP software! It's really a deal, I'm telling you! Using VoIP , I've been able to alleviate all of my progenitors' fears without so much as spending a plug nickel! My pbx phone system is so slick that I have spent less than ten bucks on my monthly calls, whereas I was spending somewhere in the neighborhood of one hundred dollars pre-IP telephony.

I know what you are thinking, 'cause I was certainly worried about my privacy and security. What with all of the new technologies potential cyber criminals have at their disposal to hack and steal...But you would be surprised with VoIP security! It's tight as snail out of water...I'm not entirely sure what exactly that means, but it sounded pretty good at the time. I trust it so much, I even use it as my Business telephone system!

All I'm trying to say is that cell phones have nothing at all on my softphone VoIP setup! So get to it, get out there...or in there... and set up your own Internet telephone!

Visaplus

The views and opinions expressed in this page are strictly those of the page author. The contents of this page have not been reviewed or approved by the University of Minnesota.

Man! What a night! What an extraordinary, exceptionally exciting evening filled to the brim with adventure, intrigue, plot and triumph!! Last night I and a few of my easily persuadable friends, braved the unnecessarily brisk and intemperate Minnesotan winter weather to attend our adoptive small town precinct caucus!! It was an enormously exhilarating event, filled with much merriment, mirth and, of course, a considerable amount of liberal propagandizing. It seems only just to inform you, also, that the state DFL caucus, my precinct anyway, was held at (leave it to us liberals to hold it here...) the local bar. Thus, there were a considerable number of people, not caucusing, but definitely drinking and making the night even more full of gaiety. I discovered quickly, especially after an extensive conversation about the state of the nations economy after a more than three hundred point drop in the dow jones industrial index, that the topic on everybody's mind was financial obligation, and more to the point, debt help. It seemed that more than half of the people attending the caucus were facing some sort of financial strain as a result of the current down turn in the sub prime mortgage lending market. I suppose it makes sense given the population of our small rural town. The vast majority of people are farmers or agriculturalists of some variety, and generally require loans from time to time. This past summer's early drought, I'm sure, assisted greatly in the number of farmers and family's seeking a loan just to keep going. Whatever their reasons, debt consolidation loomed large as the evenings ceremonies-or festivities if you look at it from my government geeky point of view- and discussions immediately began on which candidate would work the hardest towards the growing need for assistance with bill consolidation. Nearing the end of the evening, having debated and discussed, voted and vetoed, the time came to elect delegates who would represent the needs of our particular precinct-small as it may be- at the county convention in a little over a month. Deciding quickly, spontaneously, and with a rash disregard for my increasingly busy schedule, I stepped up to meet my civic duty head on and claim one of the not much sought after positions. Thinking back upon it now, I'm actually really glad I made said rash decision, as I've been waiting for an opportune moment to jump in and get involved with the party on a more official level. Besides, it looks pretty good on a resume!