Bob Mann, bicycle shop owner, shares tips

June 29th, 2008 by bethpine

Source: Fort Wayne Journal Gazette (Original Article)

Bob Mann is the owner of Summit City Bicycles and Fitness and a Northwest Allen County Trails board member. Mann spoke with editorial writer Stacey Stumpf about how more people are using bikes to get around town because of the rising cost of gasoline. Here are excerpts from the interview.  

 1) Are the higher gas prices helping business?  I’ve got to say, it’s affecting us in mostly a positive way. Not only are people turning to bikes for some transportation - maybe making that trip to the grocery store or back and forth to work. But also we’re seeing a lot of people turning to bicycles for recreation. It’s a pretty inexpensive way for a family of four to go out and enjoy the afternoon riding on the Rivergreenway versus spending the day on a boat on the lake.

Also, our repair business is through the roof. People are pulling old bikes out of the garage that they haven’t had out forever. We’re always busy in the summer, but right now we are having an exceptionally good summer selling about 100 bikes a week right now.

2) Can the trails and greenways play a role in transportation, or are they just for recreation?  The trails are certainly a nice place to go and have fun, but, I think more importantly, they can be an important part of the city’s infrastructure - transportation, a way to safely get from one neighborhood to the next, to get down to the grocery store, to go to get an ice cream cone.

I think more people would ride their bikes to work, to school if there was a safe way to do it. Forty percent of all car trips are less than 4 miles, and I think that’s certainly doable by bicycle if there is the proper infrastructure in place.

3) What can be done to make it easier for bikes and cars to share the roads?  Certainly sharing the road is a wonderful concept, but in reality bicyclists need to share some of the responsibility in picking the route that they choose, picking roads at budgettraveladvice times of days that are less …continue reading

Strategies for these economic times

June 27th, 2008 by bethpine

Source: Belleville News Democrat (Original Article)

How can you take advantage of the current economy? Here are some financial ideas.

Jim Paulsen, chief investment strategist for Wells Capital Management, said having a diversified portfolio of mutual funds saved for retirement should be first on everyone’s list.

After that, consider so-called consumer discretionary stocks, or retailers that sell goods that aren’t necessities. Paulsen likes this area of the market because he questions whether consumers are really going to avoid the malls. Retailers also “don’t possess the risk of the financial stocks” that have been affected by subprime mortgage losses.

Certified Financial Planner Marcus Winbush suggests investors look for global trends to follow, such as the demand for food and energy. Although they’re “kind of pricey,” Winbush of Breneman Winbush and Associates in Rochester, Minn., thinks investing in commodities is a good long-term play.

Winbush also has tiptoed into the bruised financial services sector, investing in Goldman Sachs because it has less subprime exposure than some of its peers. He also owns Barclays and HSBC because both companies have been “forthright with (subprime-related) write-offs.”

As for buying a house, it’s definitely a buyer’s market. And sellers are being more realistic about what their house can fetch in today’s market, meaning lower prices and a willingness to negotiate.

Foreclosures have also increased the number of for-sale signs on lawns, and if you’re handy, there are plenty of abandoned homes in need of some love. In the first quarter, the median sales price of foreclosed properties was 15.9 percent lower compared with the same quarter in 2006. For traditional properties, the price fell 3.5 percent during that same period, according to research from the Minneapolis Area Association of Realtors.

If you’re considering a real estate investment, be realistic about what you can afford in terms of repairs and how American Express Blue Sky Credit Card many months you can get by …continue reading

Operation-SOS Honors Gulf War Troops with Celebration, Bike/Car …

June 27th, 2008 by bethpine

Source: PR.com (press release) (Original Article)

Tampa, FL, June 27, 2008 –(PR.com)– Now it is simply a blacktop parking lot in front of a restaurant. But be prepared, on August 2, 11am, it will be a hub of activity as headquarters for Operation-SOS (Supporting Our Soldiers).

Operation-SOS is a custom car and bike show, a vendor fair and a welcome home celebration for the troops returning from the Gulf War. Its goal is to raise funds to erect a monument in Al Lopez Park to honor the soldiers that have fallen in this war.

Hosted by Florida Veterans Assistance Association and sponsored by Venom Custom Choppers, Full Throttle Magazine, Wild Wing Café, Fever Racing, Big Dog, S&R Performance, Eurocycles of TampaBay, Veterans Ford, Kens Mobile Dyno, Sunoco Race Fuels, 813 Customs, ProCoat Performance Coating, and The WriteOne Creative Services, Operation-SOS brings the best in automobile and motorcycle artistry to one location.

Vendors from all over Tampa Bay will be displaying their wares in 56 booths set up in the parking lot in front of Wild Wing Café, 9210 Anderson Road. While fans can linger over the exquisite display of customized automobiles and choppers up for judging at 2pm, bike enthusiasts have the opportunity to purchase a raffle ticket and potentially own a “Venom Custom Chopper” at 5pm, the close of the event. And Operation SOS did not forget about the “car guy.” An auction will be held at 4pm for automobile performance parts.

There will be live entertainment and vocalist, Erin Brea will open the event with the National Anthem.

Information about Operation-SOS and raffle ticket registration can be found at www.operation-sos.us.

About Florida Veterans Assistance Association
Established in 1996, Florida Veterans Assistance Association (FVAA) is a non-profit organization that relies on the kindness of the community for donations and purchases. FVAA offers a variety of services such as St George Starts Low Stays Low a toll free Veterans Information Hotline …continue reading

South Florida Sun-Sentinel

June 25th, 2008 by bethpine

Source: Sun-Sentinel.com (Original Article)

Text size:

What you need to know to cut your auto insurance costs

South Florida Sun-Sentinel
10:33 PM EDT, June 25, 2008

The price you pay for auto insurance varies, depending on what type of car you drive, your driving history, your insurance companyand credit history.

Check insurance costs: Do this before you buy a car because your premium is based in part on the vehicle’s price tag, costs to repair, safety record and likelihood of theft.

Higher deductible: Requesting one could lower total costs substantially, especially if you are involved in a collision.

Safe driver discount: Companies offer discounts to policyholders who have not had any accidents or moving violations. Multi-policy discount: If you have insurance for your boat, RV or motorcycle, some insurers would give you an extra discount on auto coverage.

To file a complaint and find information about an insurance company call the Consumer Services Division of the Department of Financial Services at 1-877-693-5236 in Florida and (850) 413-3030 outside Florida.

— Mc Nelly Torres

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Woman struggles to make Riverside homeless shelter succeed

June 24th, 2008 by bethpine

Source: Press-Enterprise (Original Article)

As residential program director of a Riverside shelter, Terry de Bord has heard every hard-luck story.

She even has a few of her own: survivor of an abusive husband and a horrific motorcycle accident that broke her neck, back, pelvis and dislocated her jaw.

De Bord also survived controversy at the I Care Shelter Home, where she has worked for the last eight years.

In 2003, former residents of the private, nonprofit shelter complained to county officials that de Bord, the on-site program director, was abusive.

The Fair Housing Council of Riverside County called for an investigation and asked service agencies to stop referring clients to the shelter.

The police cleared de Bord, although Rose Mayes, executive director of Fair Housing, said in a phone interview that she would never send anyone to I Care because of “substandard conditions.”

Pastor Sherry Sweetman, I Care's executive director since 1977, defends de Bord and said other agencies, including some outside the Inland Empire, continue to refer clients there.

Sweetman claims residents lied about de Bord.

“I think she has done a wonderful job,” Sweetman said. “She's been successful at getting people back on their feet.”

De Bord succeeded in rehabilitating the shelter with a $25,000 donation from a former talk show host-cum-philanthropist.

On April 29, Jenny Jones called to say she had selected I Care as a beneficiary of her yearlong million-dollar giveaway after CHP Officer Jeannette “B.J.” Batton applied for the money on the shelter's behalf.

Minutes after thanking Jones, de Bord was on the phone ordering a 6-foot chain link fence, gate, security cameras and a digital video recorder; a swamp cooler for the kitchen; six commercial washers; four stoves; and a commercial cook top.

On a recent day, de Bord showed off the acquisitions.

She and her son, Stanley, 17, have installed tiles and Student Credit Cards sinks and do most of the …continue reading

Quick scan of the net - motorcycle repairer

June 23rd, 2008 by bethpine

http://www.trevenens.org/?p=141
With crude oil at flabbergasting levels, why not try a motorcycle for your commute. Now this isn’t going to help mom and the three kids, but if you have a single passenger commute, why not buy a bike? It seems the idea is selling,

http://theoasisofmysoul.com/?p=2861
Ron, if you remember, is the owner of no other than “Motorcycle Repair and Rendez Vous” in Salt Lake City, where “Old Faithful” had her “ignition sensor” transplant not too long ago! An alternative shop where you actually get to talk

http://www.timelessfacade.com/2008/06/bistro-one-zero-three.html
Located at the unlikelinesses of places, in a small shop unit along Pasir Panjang Road just next to a motorcycle repair shop and Manhill Restaurant, Bistro 103 offers a simple and unpretentious dining area filled with wooden furniture

http://www.motorcyclephilippines.com/forums/showthread.php?t=130052
Mga sirs may nakaka-alam ba sa inyo kung saan meron nag-aalign/repair ng mags? Preferrably sa Cavite, laspinas, paranaque or kahit banda makati?? TIA:D.

http://bike-talk.com/forum/pull-up-chair-sit-spell/5955-things-ive-learned.html
Keep your bike in good repair. Motorcycle boots are NOT comfortable for walking. People are like Motorcycles: each is customized a bit differently. Sometimes, Lawyers in NSW beginning with M Page 0 the best communication happens when you’re on separate bikes.

Hip surgery hype

June 22nd, 2008 by bethpine

Source: Boston Globe (Original Article)

Health Sense

Hip surgery hype
An alternative to hip replacement is popular with the young and active, but is it worth the risks?

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By
Judy Foreman

June 23, 2008

Jeff Stewart, 43, a house painter and former high school and college athlete, remembers the exact moment his hip gave out: Valentine’s Day 2006.”I bent down to paint something low. When I got up, my hip never stopped hurting until I woke up from surgery in January 2007,” he said. The pain, due to an anatomical abnormality made worse by years of wear and tear, was so bad that sometimes all he could do was lie on his recliner and watch TV: “When you are in so much pain, your life is reduced to that.”But like a growing number of young, active people, Stewart eschewed the “gold standard” treatment - total hip replacement surgery - in favor of a new procedure that, propelled by aggressive marketing featuring pictures of vigorous, youngish athletes, is sweeping the United States: hip resurfacing.The main claim for resurfacing is that it can preserve more of the thigh bone, making any subsequent surgery more feasible if the initial repair wears out.Stewart, who paid $30,000 for the procedure and follow-up care because it was not then covered by insurance, is delighted with the results. He can once again “paint million-dollar houses by myself and jump up on roofs.”But many orthopedic surgeons, including the one who performed Stewart’s surgery, Dr. Carl Talmo at New England Baptist Hospital, are worried about the rate at which doctors, most of whom are still on a steep learning curve for this technically demanding procedure, are jumping to do it. (Resurfacing is so new that statistics on the number of people who get it will not be available until next year, according to the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons.)”I’m encouraged, but I also harbor a healthy skepticism toward resurfacing,” said Talmo, who traveltips added that Stewart was his first …continue reading

Rte. 100 upgrades starting tomorrow

June 21st, 2008 by bethpine

Source: Philadelphia Inquirer (Original Article)

Beginning tomorrow, traffic along stretches of the Route 100 spur, between Route 202 and the Route 30 Interchange, will be slowed by 13 months of $9.9 million reconstruction.
"The concrete pavement on this heavily traveled section of Route 100 is 40 years old and in need of serious attention," Lester C. Toaso, PennDot district executive for southeastern Pennsylvania, said in a press release.
"Our contractor will replace the most worn out sections of concrete," he said, "and resurface the highway with asphalt to strengthen the roadbed and provide motorists with a smooth surface."
On an average day, a PennDot spokesman said, 30,000 vehicles use that stretch of road.
Noting that there will be no lane closings, between 5 a.m. on July 3 and 9 a.m. on July 5, PennDot provided this timetable:
First, the work on the Route 100 spur between Route 202 and Pottstown Pike - a local name for Route 100 north of the spur.
Beginning tomorrow night, the right lane of the southbound Route 100 spur will be closed.
Beginning July 7, the right lane of the northbound Route 100 spur will be closed.
The work on shoulders of those lanes will last for two weeks.
In July and August, the left lanes of both northbound and southbound Route 100 spur will close so damaged concrete can be removed.
Lanes will be closed 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Paving of the two northbound and two southbound lanes will begin in September and is expected to be completed at the end of October.
Second, the work on the Route 100 spur between Pottstown Pike - the main Route 100 - and the Route 30 Interchange.
One side of that highway, and then the other, will be closed so that 600 feet of pavement can be replaced under the Amtrak and the Norfolk Southern bridges.
The closings will take place from 10 p.m. Friday to 5 a.m. Monday and may also occur Mondays through Friday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and from Student Credit Cards 9 p.m. to 6 a.m.
Third, …continue reading

In pain and feverish, Utah AG Shurtleff hospitalized for 'serious …

June 20th, 2008 by bethpine

Source: Salt Lake Tribune (Original Article)

Updated: 5:29 PM- Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff was admitted to a hospital today after complaining of pain, a spokesman said.

    “We know he’s in a great deal of pain, he has a high fever and that it may be serious,” said Paul Murphy, a spokesman for the Utah Attorney General’s Office.

    Family brought Shurtleff to the University of Utah Hospital at about 10:30 a.m., Murphy said.

    He will undergo surgery this evening for what Murphy described as a “serious leg infection.” Shurtleff is expected to be hospitalized overnight and maybe longer, Murphy said.

    Shurtleff underwent surgery two weeks ago to repair a previous surgery needed after he fractured his leg in at least seven places after a motorcycle accident Sept. 22. The latest surgery was to repair screws that had fallen loose in a steel plate in Shurtleff’s leg, Murphy said.

    Utah’s top prosecutor will undergo his seventh surgery in the last nine months tonight.

    Shurtleff has been in a “great deal of pain” since his surgery two weeks ago and has dealt with a swollen leg continuously since his accident, Murphy said.

    His condition worsened as he attended the National Association of Attorney Generals Conference in Rhode Island last week. He asked his family to take him to the hospital after his pain increased when he returned home Advertisementfrom the conference.

   Murphy said Shurtleff will undergo cultures during tonight’s surgery to determine whether or not he’s ailing from a staph infection.

    Shurtleff suffered the motorcycle accident while preparing for a charity ride dubbed “Fall Ride for Fallen Officers” for the Utah Law Enforcement Memorial Foundation. The group was raising money to build a memorial at the state Capitol for law-enforcement officers killed while St George Credit Card on duty.

    The day before …continue reading

Quick scan of the net - motorcycle repairer

June 19th, 2008 by bethpine

http://honda.gutscar.com/mattel-matchbox-2007-164-scale-light-blue-honda-ridgeline-die-cast-car-57/
Rebel 250 & Nighthawk 250: 1978-2003 (Clymer Motorcycle Repair) (Clymer Motorcycle Repair) (0); June 18, 2008 — Honda SBK-07: Superbike World Championship (0); June 18, 2008 — Honda Accord 1998 thru 2002: All Models (Haynes Repair

http://wyotech2.blogspot.com/2008/06/wyotech_20.html
Wyotech One of the most recognized motorcycle service technician programs is offered at WyoTech. Students are taught to diagnose, service and repair modern motorcycles, and given the option to choose the motorcycle manufacturer of their

http://motorcyclerepairguidesite.info/2008/06/20/harley-davidson-sportster-1200-motorcycle-covers-w-lock-cable/
A high quality, midweight and highly water resistant cover. The perfect travel cover whether you want to cover your bike at work or a cross country trip. This cover folds small and light yet gives big time protection against the

http://www.fireblades.org/forums/honda-cbr-600/65821-2001-f4i-repair-manual.html
Sorry to bombard with so many questions. Does anyone know where i can get an online pdf version of the F4i Repair manual and service manual? And perhaps the owners manual as well

http://mohamed-shinycars.blogspot.com/2008/06/live-your-teenage-dreams-restore.html
Another thing worth thinking about is the investment factor of classic motorcycle restoration. You can pick up a cheap bike, do some small repairs and cosmetic tidying, and already it’s started to increase in value.

http://texas.bizquest.com/906109.html
Motorcycle collision repair and customizing shop with a 9 year history. It is presently located in the DFW metroplex. Seller is seeking a buyer with the ability to expand to meet the needs of their…

http://anonymoushottie.blogspot.com/2008/06/bobcut.html
“So yeah I just got back from India where I had odd jobs as a fisherman and a motorcycle repair person and aren’t people weird? Peace and harmony, shit man, it all makes me laugh.” Um, what? Was that a sentence?

http://jichun.wordpress.com/2008/06/19/why-did-i-decided-to-buy-zephyr/
I thought one of a pleasure of having a motorcycle is to repair motorcycle myself. Second reason is color. XJR shape is similar to ZEPHYR, but ZEPHYR’s color is more BankWest Credit Cards attractive for me than XJR. Last thing is height.