How You Can Transform Frequent Flyer Miles and Hotel Points They Earn Into Dream Trips of a Lifetime

The best free room I ever had? There have been many, but one that comes to mind is the six-night stay my family and I enjoyed at the Park Hyatt in Tokyo. Incredibly, there was no check-in desk. As we entered the hotel, we were ushered straight to our room on the 40th floor by elevator, where we walked through the elegant lobby marveling at the spectacular views over Tokyo. Only after we were situated in our room did a staff person visit us. We signed the necessary paperwork in about 2 minutes--all from the luxury and comfort of the desk in our own room.

The amenities alone made our stay memorable. The huge bathroom greeted us with marble everywhere, while a giant tub invited us to sit, soak, and relax. Not only were the best shampoos, conditioners, and lotions provided each day, but also a new, top-of-the-line hairbrush and nailbrush. We lounged in complimentary silk kimonos and donned thick bathrobes after using the pool and spa--just a quick elevator ride away on the 52nd floor amid a dazzling 360-degree view of Tokyo.

For all of this, we paid absolutely nothing, not even room tax. But, as we all know, there is no such thing as "free." It actually took 21 paid nights at Hyatt Hotels, using a promotional offer, to earn enough hotel points for that five-night complimentary stay.

But here is the key point: When you accrue hotel points or intend to use some promotion toward free nights, make the most of what they offer! Just as you would use those free nights you earn only at hotels which might otherwise be out of your budget, redeem your frequent flyer miles for the most expensive air tickets in business or first class.

Research consistently shows that almost two-thirds of all redeemed frequent flyer miles are used for free coach class trips within the US or between the US and Canada. This statistic amazes me. Because these awards usually cost 25,000 frequent flyer miles, travelers who cash them in towards domestic leisure trips--for which airfares are unusually low in today's competitive travel market--receive a poor return on their investment. The savvy traveler can reach almost any domestic destination today in coach class for under $400 using an advance purchase ticket. With low-cost airlines such as America West now offering first class cabins for travel anywhere in the US priced under $1,000 (and frequently matched by the major competing airlines), even premium class is more affordable than ever before. Why not wait until you have accrued 100,000 to 200,000 miles and splurge on one or two premium class tickets for travel abroad?

You may argue that you want to use your frequent flyer miles quickly--before the airlines go out of business. Critics across the board are heralding the demise of all major airlines, and with it the frequent flyer mile programs savvy travelers have come to love--and hate! Countless "travel authorities" wax lyrical in newspapers and journals, and "knowledgeable" pundits on radio and TV continue to warn travelers to use up their miles quickly before they are all worthless. How utterly ridiculous....

With the exception of US Airways, which I believe will disappear from the landscape in the next few months, the majors are here to stay for the time being--so continue to accumulate frequent flyer miles and be ready to book your dream trip one day in the not-too-distant future. Will airline miles be devalued in the future? Of course they will--and so will the greenbacks in your pocket and mutual fund account, but that hasn't stopped you going out and earning dollars each workday, has it? Get real now--the major airlines will need their frequent flyer programs for many years into the future, not only as a way to communicate with their customers, but also as a source of revenue from the thousands of businesses (banks, mutual funds, restaurants, long distance phone companies--how do we count the ways?) that offer frequent flier miles as rewards to their loyal customers. Your hotel points are even more secure, not least since the major hotel chains have not hemorrhaged money in the same manner as the major airlines. So keep earning those Hilton, Marriott, Hyatt, and Starwood loyalty points to enjoy the kind of stay I describe in the opening story.

It's really the exotic destinations--from Tahiti to Paris, Antigua to Rio de Janeiro--that should excite you, the sophisticated world traveler who lusts for the unique, the unusual, the spectacular experiences. Start imagining--and planning--the fabulous trips that will take you to a whole new level of exhilaration. Decide which portion of paradise has the highest priority on your wish list--and figure out the amount of miles you'll need for one or two or more business or first class tickets to transform your dreams into reality. Then begin working on strategies to start racking up the miles as fast as possible to accelerate your quest toward mileage nirvana.

And bon voyage!

How You Can Transform Frequent Flyer Miles and Hotel Points They Earn Into Dream Trips of a Lifetime   How You Can Transform Frequent Flyer Miles and Hotel Points They Earn Into Dream Trips of a Lifetime   How You Can Transform Frequent Flyer Miles and Hotel Points They Earn Into Dream Trips of a Lifetime   

Got a Great Idea for a Movie? You Could Make Millions

You've seen one or two bad movies in your time, right? And you've told your date, "I could do better than that." Your instincts are probably right.

You already know Hollywood seems locked into making the same tired, old plots, over and over. But you have an idea for a better movie rolling around inside your brain.

Well, here's opportunity knocking.

A former Hollywood executive is willing to make your screenplay into a movie if you're the winner of a winner-take-all competition. John Hart, former vice-president for BrightStar Productions, has founded an independent studio in Oregon, a state that is now known as "Hollywood North," and he's ready to make the winning idea into a movie.

The competition is called MakeMyScreenplay and it's the only one of its kind. The winner gets his or her script made into a feature-length movie, and here's the best part: the winner also gets fifty-percent (50%) of all revenue generated from theatrical, televison, and DVD sales.

What kind of money are we talking about here?

Well, "Blair Witch Project," a low-budget independent movie, made outside of Hollywood, grossed $140,530,114 dollars in the U.S., according to the Internet Movie Database. Another recent independent hit also made outside of Hollywood, "Napoleon Dynamite," grossed $44,540,956 in the U.S.

Can you write something like that? Or better? If you can, MakeMyScreenplay will make the movie, and you'll get half the money.

Writing a screenplay isn't that difficult. The format is a breeze to follow. What you really need is a good idea and some screenwriting software, and the will to finish it. Make it a group project. Get your whole family involved.

The rules are pretty simple and you can see them all at [http://www.MakeMyScreenplay.com]. You aren't eligible if you've already won before, or you have a produced theatrical or television movie.

The winning script will be shot in Oregon in High-Definition format, with Sony's new high-definition camera, the HVR-Z1U, and we'll edit it, add music and sound effects, and send you a DVD when it's done. Then we'll show it off to the world. Neither of make any money unless we get it sold somewhere, right?

So enough whining about the bad movies you've seen. Do something about it. Write your own and we'll make it. Check out the details at www.MakeMyScreenplay.com [http://www.MakeMyScreenplay.com], and good luck with your script! We're looking forward to reading it.

Contest Advice for Screenplay Writers   Got a Great Idea for a Movie? You Could Make Millions   Contest Advice for Screenplay Writers   Got a Great Idea for a Movie? You Could Make Millions   

Pole Barn Garages

Whether it's for commercial or residential use, a pole barn building is a great option for a garage. Keeping vehicles safe from foul weather and other outdoor hazards is essential to the longevity of your cars and trucks and with a well designed and expertly crafted pole building you can have a multiple vehicle garage installed quickly so you won't have to worry about snow, rain, high winds and excessive UV sunlight. While pole buildings can serve many purposes including storage for farm equipment and machinery and as sheds for horses and other animals, one of the most popular applications is to use the pole building as a residential or commercial garage.

Not every home includes a garage and most farms and construction sites won't have stand alone garages either. The cost of putting in a stick frame building may be too much for your budget in which case it might be in your best interest to consider installing a pole barn building instead. Cheaper than traditional garages and able to be built in half the time, a pole building is a cost-effective choice for protecting cars as well as commercial vehicles including trucks, tractors and harvesters. If you leave vehicles and equipment outside there's a very good chance that the combination of foul weather and other outdoor hazards will cause wear and tear that can lead to damage that may require expensive repairs or purchasing new vehicles.

A pole barn garage can be easily designed and sometimes installed in just one day. Depending on the size and shape of your garage and if you plan on customizing it may take a little longer but on average pole buildings go up pretty fast. Having a pole building carport will make life much easier for you around the house and on commercial property such as farms and construction sites. In addition to providing safe housing for vehicles a pole building can also be used as storage space for building materials, tools, agricultural supplies and miscellaneous items.

The versatility of a pole barn garage makes it a very valuable building to have on your property. When the weather is nice you may not need to store your car or truck in the garage but can use the pole building for other storage needs including equipment, machinery and food stocks. Pole barn garages can also be customized to add windows, porches, Dutch doors and overhangs so you have a unique carport that serves all your residential and commercial needs.

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Modified Humans with High Tech Components Will Soon Thought Swap in Social Networks

Judging by the title of this article, I am sure I've got your full attention. Recently, I was speaking to an acquaintance out in California, an up and coming intellectual of sorts and we got onto the topic of how the human body talks to itself. For instance, when you are hungry, your stomach sends signals to your brain, and since there are neurons in the stomach for instance and yes, everything is connected in the complex human bio-system (as Josh Balaban recently reminded me), or any organism for that matter.

Josh also reminded me that a stimulus, thought, or a question is what causes the first action. Okay so, yes, often "we" or rather the academics often see the stimulus and question within the same process. Knowing this reality, plus the current evolution of social networks and the blurring of human/computer interfaces, one might ask; will humans someday have a "social networking chip" attached to the organic brain, where, we can thought swap, rather than have to use Siri on the iPhone to send a message?

Think of the potential applications, for instance entertainment value; what if someone who had an adrenal rush, perhaps from a B.A.S.E. jump could send that sensation to their "friends" on "MindBook" for instance? Maybe, one could send a memory, or experience too, and charge for it. So you could sit back, and open that zip file in your brain chip and "feel" the rush for instance?

Okay, now let me ramp up the dialogue and go through some rather way-out thoughts here.

If we are now adding sensors to the organic biosystem to compliment it, for instance eye sensors which might also have infrared, "Bionic" type eye, and see frequency, then the individual would have more input to respond too and have a different experience, yet, still within the same environment - would this person "know" more, or "know" differently due to the value-added perception available?

Would this indeed help them in many ways and give them the advantage over another, or would it hurt their ability to rapidly respond due to too much information. For instance, in WWII someone who was color blind would not be fooled by camouflage, so they had the advantage, but had weaker abilities and lacking in sight sense abilities. See that point?

What questions might be "asked" by the brain of a shark seeing by sonar, or a bat trying to navigate a rotating wind-turbine blade - or flying into a music hall with the lights off? How fast and intelligently could they respond to that knew and unknown or un-experienced environment, and what of the human with the new features implanted, could they respond or be flustered by something so foreign, and if they had these senses how long until their brain adapted, reformatted let's say the spatial reasoning part of their brain to really utilize all this new information to their advantage?

Would they like it, dismiss it, want to take it out, or would it merely be a 2-3 day adjustment, and all of a sudden, they'd have what others might describe as a sixth sense when in reality it was only an assisted elevated sense of the same, in this case a robust boost in eye-sight?

And then, what of the "clicking" used by some Amazon and African tribes to hear-see in the dark, how come they have the ability and those in Los Angeles can't even hear a bus about to run them over due to the over abundance of information flow? Would a bigger brain or a better structured brain, or differently formatted brain work better, choose to use the information differently, and is the basic premise merely a throw-back to the reality that the human brain is so marvelous a device that it can adapt or format as needed to nearly any environment once the "user" focuses on the needs, wants, and desires due to their thoughts, decisions, questions, and stimulus process?

Can we design sensors to interface in such a way to boost and accelerate communication and merge the global world with each individual? And can we do this in such a way to make it all work in a positive way without creating a mass mob of the mindless Borg of humanity? Please consider all this and think on it.

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Damage? Loss? Leave the Golf Clubs at Home and Hire!

Transporting golf equipment overseas can be a challenge even for the most intrepid of international travelers. The logistics involved in getting those prized assets onto the plane can lead you to question your decision to take them in the first place! Then throw the costs of insurance and airline oversize baggage fees into the mix and the doubts in the mind grow still further!

But arguably the biggest single fear of any golfer - one that has inspired the storyline of many a nightmare - is seeing the baggage carousel start up and your golf bag emerge in a state of disrepair, with your favorite seven-iron protruding out of a rip in a previously unblemished golf bag! Too much information?

Well information is one thing that is usually at a premium when the same carousel comes to an abrupt halt and your clubs are no where to be seen! Arriving on the next flight in, arriving tomorrow, or perhaps not arriving at all, just a few of the countless scenarios presented by the oh so helpful baggage handler!

And these painful visions are not reserved solely for us amateurs, damaged or lost equipment is also the bane of the tour pros. Hard to believe? Well two recent 'tweets' broadcast by European Tour golfer, Oliver Wilson and PGA Tour regular, Aaron Badderly, support this claim.

There is little accurate statistical information around to measure the value of insurance payouts on golf equipment damage, but it is thought to run into millions of dollars each year. Add to this the hidden costs of repair and replacing equipment for golfers without insurance, and the case for hiring golf equipment becomes stronger still.

Making claims to insurance companies can be a long and frustrating process and even when the assessor has completed his work and the claim is settled it is very rare that the full value of the missing or damage article is paid in full.

Then there is the emotional card. Us golfers are strange animals. The game we love is one of touch and feel, confidence plays a huge part and superstition and fickleness abounds! Indeed how many times have we read of Tour pros bringing a trusty old putter, out of hibernation in an attempt to break a run of poor form? How many times have you ventured into the depths of a storeroom or garage to find that old trustworthy seven-iron that once served so well? The loss or damage of a favourite weapon can be devastating!

So why take the chance? Why not leave all your worry and stress at home with your golf clubs and use the money saved from sidestepping insurance and airline baggage costs to hire a set at your destination? If the emotional tie is too strong then hire the same set as the one you have left behind, or try something new. The hiring option offers both opportunities and in turn adds value and enjoyment to your golfing vacation.

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Simple Words

The words, the thoughts, the processes go on and on.

As simple as it may seem to me I tend to feel that all words have their own meaning and not always the dictionary form.

A simple word takes the form of many other words as each individual person who hears it puts it through a transformation process.

A doctor can take a word and change it into a disease. A carpenter can take a word and change it into a tool.

Is it that no one is listening or is it that each person listens only to what they know currently?

Debates take a turn at each word that is change and looked at in a different way by the person listening. According to our knowledge we can take a prayer and turn it into a blatant statement of hatred or immoral intrusion.

We can take a statement that spews hate and turn it into a humanitarian effort.

The words that tell, the words that say, the words that we hear and acknowledge everyday make us what we are if we allow them to.

It is the definition as we see it and nothing more. Depending on how stubborn a person is the prayer, the hatred can be anything.

A long line of definitions and the end of any Thesaurus will change the meaning according to the word you pick hate can become love and loving can become despising. This is the way a person's mind can work and in the end it all blends into the way a person listens.

If all you know is hatred, it is not hard to imagine what love could be. Still depending on the words that you know it can turn itself into a field of flowers or the face of a monster.

Every word has a meaning and that meaning can be twisted and turned into so many different forms that it can take forever to get through if the person listening does not understand your meaning and what it means to you.

Human beliefs are a large part of the basis of the definitions that are out there. What could be simple and what is simple can, and at times can become complex and confusing.

Confusion occurs when a word we learned as a child takes a different form and we are unaccustomed to it being used in that way. Simple can be so much better but the world is complex and if the ones that hold the knowledge contained in a Thesaurus use it, the world can and will become the definition of what they believe in if only because no one can truly understand what is happening.

It will get to the point where not only will people not understand what is happening because they do not understand the use of the wording. But the other people will not understand because they have evolved to a place where simplicity means nothing.

It is everywhere and few see it.

It is in politics, they make wrongs right, according to the wording of laws and bills. It is in corporations as they justify the wrongs or the lies that they come upon every day. It is in the very fabric of the religions that will change what they need to according to what they want to believe in.

Simple, look it up!

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