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You know when you?ve been in a bad relationship for so long that it?s almost impossible to end it? There?s a disconnect between you two, but it almost seems like more effort to go through a breakup (or a patch up) than to just ... leave it like it is.
Well it?s the new year, and not that we?re trying to be your new life coach or anything, but we don?t want to see you go through 2013 like this.
Green Bay Packers fullback John Kuhn celebrates after scoring a touchdown during the first half of an NFL wild card playoff football game against the Minnesota Vikings Saturday, Jan. 5, 2013, in Green Bay, Wis. (AP Photo/Mike Roemer)
Green Bay Packers fullback John Kuhn celebrates after scoring a touchdown during the first half of an NFL wild card playoff football game against the Minnesota Vikings Saturday, Jan. 5, 2013, in Green Bay, Wis. (AP Photo/Mike Roemer)
Green Bay Packers fullback John Kuhn celebrates after scoring a touchdown during the first half of an NFL wild card playoff football game against the Minnesota Vikings Saturday, Jan. 5, 2013, in Green Bay, Wis. (AP Photo/Mike Roemer)
Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers looks to throw a pass during the first half of an NFL wild card playoff football game against the Minnesota Vikings Saturday, Jan. 5, 2013, in Green Bay, Wis. (AP Photo/Mike Roemer)
Minnesota Vikings quarterback Joe Webb (14) tries to throw the ball away as Green Bay Packers outside linebacker Erik Walden (93) tackles him during the first half of an NFL wild card playoff football game Saturday, Jan. 5, 2013, in Green Bay, Wis. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Phelps)
Green Bay Packers outside linebacker Erik Walden (93) sacks Minnesota Vikings quarterback Joe Webb (14) during the first half of an NFL wild card playoff football game Saturday, Jan. 5, 2013, in Green Bay, Wis. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Phelps)
GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) ? Deep on offense and scary-good on defense, the Green Bay Packers were way too much for the Minnesota Vikings.
Maybe everyone else in the NFC, too.
Aaron Rodgers, Charles Woodson and the Packers reminded everyone of how dangerous they can be when they're at full strength Saturday night, overwhelming the Vikings 24-10 in an NFC wild-card game that was never really close.
"Our defense played great," Rodgers said. "Our defense tonight played at a championship level and that's what you need in the playoffs."
John Kuhn scored two touchdowns, DuJuan Harris added another and Rodgers connected with an NFL playoff-record 10 receivers as he threw for 274 yards in his first playoff victory at home. Defensively, the Packers (12-5) finally managed to contain Adrian Peterson and were all over Vikings backup Joe Webb, pressed into service because of Christian Ponder's triceps injury.
Peterson was held to 99 yards ? an improvement after gaining 199 and 210 in the first two games against Green Bay. It was only the second time in the last 11 games that he was held below 100 yards. Webb, who hadn't thrown a pass all season, was sacked three times and off target all night. His only highlight was a 50-yard scoring pass to Michael Jenkins late in the fourth quarter, but it was far too late for the Vikings (10-7).
"No disrespect to Ponder, but ... it's about one guy and that's Adrian Peterson," said Woodson, who played his first game since breaking his right collarbone Oct. 21. "Our main focus, whether it was Ponder or Webb, was to keep 28 (Peterson) from getting off. And if we were going to keep him from getting off, put the ball in the quarterback's hands, whatever quarterback it was, we felt good about what was going to happen."
With a little over a minute left, Packers fans began taunting the Vikings (10-7) with chants of "Nah-nah-nah-nah ... goodbye." The win snapped a two-game losing streak at Lambeau Field in the playoffs, and sent the Packers to San Francisco next Saturday for an NFC divisional game with the 49ers. The teams met in the season opener, with San Francisco winning 30-22.
"A lot has happened since we played San Francisco," Packers coach Mike McCarthy said. "We're a different team."
This was the third game in six weeks between Green Bay and the Vikings, and second in six days. The Packers' loss in Minnesota last weekend cost them the No. 2 seed in the NFC, along with a bye this weekend, and left them looking ? dare we say it? ? vulnerable going into the playoffs. But with Woodson back and Rodgers having all four of his top receivers for, essentially, the first time since Sept. 30, Green Bay looked like a team that could make the kind of deep run it did two years ago when it won the Super Bowl.
Rodgers used so many different options other NFL quarterbacks must have been drooling. He went with Harris on Green Bay's first scoring drive, mixed it up between James Jones, Tom Crabtree and Greg Jennings on the second, and had 22- and 23-yard completions to Jordy Nelson before Kuhn scored on a 3-yard run that put the Packers up 17-3 just before the half.
And pretty much everyone got in on the fun on the last score, a 12-play, 80-yard drive that chewed up more than 5 ? minutes. Rodgers connected with Jones on a 19-yard completion to put the Packers in Packers territory, then connected with Harris for 14 yards two plays later to reach the red zone. Rodgers threw incompletes on second and third downs, but just when the Packers thought they'd have to settle for a field goal, the Vikings were whistled for 12 men on the field, giving Rodgers another crack at the end zone.
He found Kuhn for the 9-yard score, and the game was all but over.
"That was tough. We were down seven and they went and scored and they were coming out of the half, too, getting the ball, too, and they got it and scored again," Antoine Winfield said. "Can't do that against the Green Bay Packers."
Harris, who didn't play in the first game against Minnesota this season because he'd only been elevated from the practice squad a day earlier, led the team in receiving (five catches for 61 yards) and rushing (47 yards on 17 carries). Jennings and Jones had four catches each and Nelson had three before hobbling off late in the fourth quarter.
"We have some stuff to work on," Rodgers said. "We've got to help our defense out more, close a team out like that. Tough test next week back in San Francisco."
Hey, at least the Packers are still playing. That's more than the Vikings can say.
Ponder was hurt last weekend when Morgan Burnett slammed into him on a blitz. Though initially thought to be an elbow injury, Ponder said it was actually a deep bruise in his right triceps. It limited his flexibility along with his power and, though it is better, there simply wasn't enough time to recover with the short, six-day turnaround.
After testing the arm before the game, the Vikings decided to go with Webb, whose only playing time this year was a couple of handoffs at the end of a blowout of Tennessee in early October.
"I can play with pain. The biggest thing is the loss of flexibility," Ponder said. "I couldn't get the ball in the position to where I could throw it normally and lost a lot of power and everything. It wouldn't have been wise to play."
It was the first time Buffalo's Frank Reich in 1993 a quarterback had started a playoff game after not starting during the regular season, according to STATS Inc. And, in the first series at least, he seemed to have caught the Packers off guard. That or they were too busy trying to bottle up Peterson, who bulldozed them for 409 yards in their first two games, to pay attention.
With what seemed like every Packers defender focused on Peterson, Webb converted a third-and-3 with a 17-yard pickup. His 5-yard run four plays later put the Vikings at the Green Bay 13. But Webb's first pass of the night went into the ground, and the Vikings were forced to settle for Blair Walsh's 33-yard field goal that gave them a 3-0 lead.
But the Packers quickly settled down and Webb and the Vikings never stood a chance. Especially with Peterson not allowed to roam free as he's done against the Packers in the past.
"The energy level was at an all-time high," Woodson said. "This week, like last week, we buzzed around. But this week we made the tackles, we didn't allow (Peterson) to get through the line of scrimmage and get yards after first contact. We just kept putting heat on them. That was the difference."
Notes: With two sacks of Webb, Matthews joined Reggie White as the only Packers to have two or more sacks in two postseason games. ... Minnesota had 157 of its 324 yards in the fourth quarter, when the game was out of hand. ... Kuhn is the only player in the NFL to score a touchdown in each of the last four postseasons. ... Mason Crosby's 20-yard field goal in the second quarter was his sixth straight in the postseason, a Packers record. ... Vikings S Harrison Smith left the game briefly with a left knee injury, but was able to return. Minnesota coach Leslie Frazier said after the game he was fine.
___
Online: http://pro32.ap.org/poll and http://twitter.com/AP_NFL
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?It?s not that I mind getting old,? my mother confided, ?so much as my mind?s getting old.?
Living abroad has challenged us, especially since Ron and I both have elderly mothers. We make frequent trips to the states and count our blessings each time we return simply because we can share our love, our stories, and our histories. But, there will soon come a time when we will no longer be able to share those bonding memories. Those tender moments are scarcer, which saddens me.
There is no one-size-fits all manual for new parents, because every child is different, and the same applies to caring for an aging parent. In one year?s time, my mother has moved from a three-story house, to a condo in Florida, to an apartment in a retirement center. No wonder she asks me constantly, ?Where are we going, Debbie??
This year I am resolved to help her get comfortably settled and surrounded by family..those who know the stories and can jog her memory with humorous tales of long ago. ?Remember when Dad got a new shop vac and you were styling your hair in the beauty shop, Mom?? ?Yes, I remember that,? she says. ?Well, do you remember that you were wearing a silk scarf around your head when Dad showed you the power of the shop vac??? She starts to laugh recalling the incident, ?Yes! He sucked the silk scarf right off my head and into the shop vac.? Those endearing moments, tales of years? past..those are the moments I want Mom to experience again. They can only happen when surrounded by family.
Most Nicaraguan family units are large, with eight or more people living together under one hot tin roof. The Nicaraguan household is typically augmented by the presence of grandparents, aunts, uncles, an orphaned relative, a daughter with children of her own, and always accompanied by dogs, chickens, and a few pigs. Extended family members take care of their own. They even lack a word in their vocabulary for retirement home. The concept of a place where the elderly are removed from the family unit is alien and strange to most Nicaraguans.
Family members celebrate a birthday.
Although Nicaragua is out of the question for Mom ( Her needs are greater than our island can support), we do have plans in the making where she will be surrounded by loving family. She?ll soon be living with my brother and his wife and their chocolate lab, Lena.
So, as I paddle my boat in uncharted waters, the next time Mom asks, ?Where are we going, Debbie?? I?ll soon be able to answer, ?Home, Mom. We?re going home.? I am resolved!
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Source: http://retirenicaragua.wordpress.com/2013/01/04/weekly-photo-challenge-resolved/
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I?m down in the Sunday open house trenches to get a first hand view of what?s going on. I talk to Realtors about their property listing durations, understand why the sellers are selling, and get opinions on the market. You can never fully trust a Realtor because to them, it?s ?always a good time to buy or sell property.? By going to open houses yourself, you can at least observe the amount of foot traffic and listen to the enthusiasm or lack thereof.
It should be obvious I?m an advocate of homeownership by now for the following reasons:
1) You have to live somewhere.
2) The homeownership stock is better quality than the rental stock to live.
3) Most people can?t save for poop, so paying down principle is better than poop.
4) Tax shield on income, which is especially helpful for those in higher brackets.
5) The long term trend is always up so long as there is limited land and population growth.
6) You can potentially make a lot of money over time.
7) More control over your lifestyle e.g. never have to move, remodel as you will.
8) Build real assets that can be passed along to your children.
9) Inflation hedge.
10) Inflation play.
There?s nothing wrong with renting if you don?t have the money, don?t know what to do with your life, have a lot of debt, or are not sure whether you want to live in one place for more than five years. The mobility of being a renter is wonderful, so is the lack of responsibility for property taxes and maintenance. Just know the return on rent is always -100% every month. At least with homeownership, you have a chance of making some money.
This post isn?t about the merits of homeownership. This post discusses how to think about your current living situation and whether it gels with your investment outlook. Remember, the name of the game is passive income, increasing assets, and creating financial freedom.
A renter benefits when home prices and rents go down, which is why I say renters are ?short? real estate. If rents and home prices go up, renters get ?short squeezed? as they have to pay more of their disposable income on rent, a downpayment, and a mortgage. The concept is the same with the stock market. If you short Apple stock at $520, it means you believe you can buy back the stock at a lower price and pocket the different. If Apple rebounds to $600, you may have to buy back the stock at $600 and lose $80 a share.
With inflation, population growth, QE3, QE4, QE Infinity, and limited land, the natural trajectory is ?up and to the right? for rent and housing prices. Housing costs are a key component of inflation and something we must all pay in some way or another.?A renter is a price taker, just like a car driver is a price taker of gasoline. As a renter, you may actually not want rents to drop because that signifies a weakening economy.
If you are still renting 40 years from now, you won?t have a place to live rent-free in retirement, nor will you have an accumulated asset you can pass down or draw from. Like gasoline and tuition, the rent you pay now will undoubtedly be much higher when you become a senor citizen. Don?t believe me? Just ask your parents or grandparents what they were paying in rent during their working days.
When it comes to investing, everything is relative. Given you have to live somewhere, if you live in your home, you are neutral on real estate. If the market goes up, your house value goes up, but it doesn?t matter because you aren?t selling. You can take out a home equity line of credit to buy a Porsche 911 Turbo instead of a Honda Accord, but that?s not very wise.
Let?s say your $500,000 home appreciates by 20% to $600,000 over 10 years. You put 20% down ($100,000) and now your equity is worth $200,000 for a 100% increase. Awesome! But the house you want to upgrade to now costs $1 million from $800,000, because it too has gone up! The only thing that allows you to purchase more house is not your own home equity, but your savings and investments.
On the other hand, if you want to downsize from a $1 million dollar house to a $600,000 house, you have benefitted more financially if you are OK with the downgrade. You made $200,000 ($800,000 to $1 million) and only have to put $120,000 down on a $600,000 house. You therefore bank the $80,000 and pay a smaller $480,000 mortgage if you are fine with simpler living. As a homeowner, you are in a neutral positive situation.
On the flip side, if your $500,000 home loses 20% of its value to $400,000, you?re not really affected either because you aren?t moving anywhere unless you can?t afford the payments. Interestingly, that $1 million dollar house you?ve been eyeing may have also lost 20% of its value down to $800,000. You no longer have to put $200,000 down and take out a $800,000 if you want to move up. You can now put $160,000 down and assume a $640,000 mortgage instead! In a declining market, those who have the financial means to ?upgrade? are the ones who benefit.
As a one property homeowner, you?re like a small boat who happily floats along the rolling waves. Unless you are easily susceptible to sea sickness, the movements don?t really matter.
The only way to really benefit from a real estate recovery is to buy more than one property. When the markets are hot, you can raise the rent or sell the property to realize a gain. If you only own one property that you live in, you can?t do much at all except for downsize.
Why do you think there are countless examples of real estate magnets like Li Ka Shing, Sam Zell, and Donald Trump? They made their money (and lost some as well) through buying multiple properties on debt. Many have also gone bust buying at the wrong time, being over levered, and not holding on long enough. Over the long run, property has proven to be a consistent wealth builder for so many.
To recap, the point of this post is to get you thinking about how your outlook on housing and the economy fits with your current living situation. If you are very negative on housing, then owning multiple properties doesn?t make sense. If you believe there will be a multi-year housing market recovery like I do, renting doesn?t make sense because you?ll get squeezed. Rental yields are much higher than mortgage rates, which makes for an instant positive carry while you wait for capital appreciation.
Make sure your living situation is congruent with your real estate investor beliefs. Live the way you believe and everything will fall into place over time.
Are you short, neutral, or bullish on property? If you are incongruent with your beliefs, do you plan to change?
Photo: Santorini Property Overlooking The Crater, Sam D, 2011.
Regards,
Sam
Source: http://www.financialsamurai.com/2013/01/04/the-real-estate-investors-mindset/
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Thus far, Apple has only released one model of the iPhone, with one screen size, at a time.
"We believe this is about to change with the next iPhone offering different screen sizes that we believe will allow Apple to better bifurcate the market and expand its reach," says White.
He thinks Apple could have three screen sizes. The small iPhone with a 3.5-inch screen, the medium iPhone with a 4-inch screen, and then a bigger iPhone with a bigger screen.
The next iPhone is going to come out in the May-June time frame, says White.
White thinks Apple makes the next iPhone more colorful, similar to what it's done with the iPod Touch, which available in a wide variety of colors. He's not the only one saying this. Jefferies also thinks the next iPhone comes in colors.
Almost every other smartphone maker offers bigger screens than the iPhone, so it makes sense for Apple to increase the size of the iPhone screen. While the 4-inch iPhone is nice, it would be nicer if it was even bigger.
The risk for Apple is that it introduces a mess of fragmentation for developers. When it introduced the iPhone 5, with a taller screen and new proportions, developers had to update their apps. We're not sure how developers would handle working on three screens, but we supposed it's possible a bigger screen could have the same proportions as the iPhone 4, making life easier for developers. Or, maybe Apple can create a software solution to eradicate the fragmentation problem.
Here's White's exact quote on screen sizes:
Our checks are also indicating that the next iPhone will offer customers more choice in terms of screen size. Although Apple offers a 4-inch screen on the iPhone 5 and a 3.5-inch screen on the iPhone 4S and iPhone 4, the Company has never offered multiple screen sizes for a single model. We believe this is about to change with the next iPhone offering different screen sizes that we believe will allow Apple to better bifurcate the market and expand its reach. This eventually opens up the possibility for a lower-priced iPhone (i.e., iPhone mini) with a smaller screen size that could allow Apple to further penetrate markets such as China and open up opportunities in India. At the same time, Apple could unveil a larger screen size compared to the recently updated 4-inch screen on the iPhone 5. Clearly, there are many smartphone models that are now larger than 4 inches and even some bigger than five inches on the market.
Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/iphone-6-2013-1
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French researcher Gerard Liger-Belair works on a glass of champagne in his laboratory in Reims, located in the Champagne region in eastern France.
By Alan Boyle
If you really want to impress your bubbly-sipping friends tonight, be sure to chill a big bottle of Champagne to somewhere between 39 and 50 degrees Fahrenheit (4 to 9 degrees Celsius), bring out the narrow glasses (not those wide plastic cups!) and pour the stuff gently down the angled side of the glass like beer.
This is the scientific way to treat Champagne sparkling wine, based on research conducted over the years by Gerard Liger-Belair, a physicist at the University of Reims in France's Champagne region. His studies on the behavior of bubbly?? including high-speed photography of popping bubbles and infrared imaging of carbon dioxide flow?? have made him the world's highest-profile expert on Champagne science.
It's a tough job?? but somebody's gotta do it.
"I love the beauties behind bubble science," Liger-Belair said in an email. "Since I became a scientist, many people have remarked that I seem to have landed the best job in all of physics, since my research on bubbles requires that I work in a lab stocked with top-notch Champagne ??and I'd be inclined to agree."
For Liger-Belair and his colleagues, it's mostly about the bubbles. To be sure, there's much more to sparkling wine than the sparkle: As many as 80 different vintages of wine may be blended together to create one batch of Champagne using the traditional process. A small amount of yeast and sugar is added, and the bottles are sealed up for fermentation. Months later, the yeast sediment is blown out through the bottle's neck ? and then the bottle is quickly corked up and wired shut.
Liger-Belair's research focuses on what happens next, when the cork is popped off. The CO2 that was created through the fermentation process bubbles out of the wine???tickling the nose with a fizzy aerosol of alcohol and flavorful ingredients known as volatile organic compounds. The more CO2 that can be liberated after the champagne is poured into the glass, the better.
That's where science comes into play. Liger-Belair and his colleagues recently reported that larger bottles of Champagne retain more CO2 in the wine as it's being poured into the glasses. So if you have a choice between several small bottles and fewer big bottles, go for the big ones. But be sure those bottles are well-chilled: Warm champagne loses its CO2 quickly as it's being poured, leaving less to fizz up out of the glass.
Ray Isle, executive wine editor of Food & Wine, shares five ways to get the most out of your New Year's bubbly.
Speaking of the glass: Liger-Belair's team determined that tall, narrow-rimmed flutes produce a better effect than the wide-rimmed "coupes" that folks more typically associate with sparkling wine. That's because the CO2 rises out of a wide-rimmed glass too quickly, over a wider surface area. Also, glass flutes are better than plastic cups, and not just for aesthetic reasons: The plastic material is hydrophobic?? that is, liquid-repellent?? which means the bubbles are more likely to adhere to the sides of the cup and less likely to contribute to a nice fizz.
If you really want to get your fizz on, wash your glasses before the party and dry them with a towel rather than letting them air-dry: The microscopic fibers of cellulose that are left inside the glass actually contribute to bubble production. Some glass-makers add tiny scratches to their Champagne glasses to create pleasing patterns of bubbles, and you can feel free to experiment with the same technique. (Just not with the expensive glassware.)
When it comes to the pouring, don't splash the Champagne straight down into the bottom of the glass. Instead, trickle it down the side, like beer. That preserves more of the carbon dioxide for the bubbles that rise while you're drinking the wine. "The beer-like way of serving champagne much less impacts its dissolved CO2 concentration than the Champagne-like way of serving it, and especially at low Champagne temperatures (4 degrees C and 12 degrees C)," Liger-Belair reported.
Liger-Belair has laid out many more findings about Champagne in a decade's worth of research papers?? and in his book, "Uncorked: The Science of Champagne," which is being updated with the latest revelations for a new edition. One of his recent papers, an 88-page survey written for the European Physical Journal, is available for free download today.
Here's a sampling of sparkling facts:?
It might seem frivolous to devote so much attention to the physics of fizz, but Liger-Belair said his research is about much more than your single bottle of bubbly on New Year's Eve.
"In fact, bubbles are a fantastic example of bubble dynamics in general, and studies dealing with champagne bubbles can be extended to many other areas where bubbles play a role, in natural as well as industrial processes. For example, marine aerosols created by bursting bubbles behave like champagne's bursting bubbles. ... The scales are different, but the basic principles are identical," he said in his email.
Liger-Belair's research at the University of Reims is generally funded by enological and agricultural programs in France and Europe ??such as L'Association Recherche Oenologique Champagne et Universit
?, which was created to boost the Champagne region's best-known industr
y.
"As far as champagne is concerned, 350 million bottles sold per year all over the world deserve particular attention. The job may seem fun indeed, as any job made with passion should be," Liger-Belair said. "I am aware that devoting so much energy to studying champagne bubbles may seem 'weird,' but the implications of bubble dynamics are universal."
So just before you take a sip of cool, sparkling beverage from your towel-dried flute, raise a toast to Liger-Belair ... and the science of champagne.
Update for 12:45 p.m. ET:?Legend has it that the wide-rimmed, bowl-like champagne coupe was modeled after the breast of Marie Antoinette (or the Empress Josephine, or Helen of Troy ...), but Snopes.com says?there's no truth to the legend.?
More about the science of alcoholic drinks:
Alan Boyle is NBCNews.com's science editor. Connect with the Cosmic Log community by "liking" the log's?Facebook page, following?@b0yle on Twitter?and adding the?Cosmic Log page?to your Google+ presence. To keep up with Cosmic Log as well as NBCNews.com's other stories about science and space, sign up for the Tech & Science newsletter, delivered to your email in-box every weekday. You can also check out?"The Case for Pluto,"?my book about the controversial dwarf planet and the search for new worlds.
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