November 1, 2010

By Joe Anselmo, Co-Owner & CEO of Turning Point Real Estate

We're all familiar with the saying "you can't see the forest for the trees". This old saying just popped into my head and I thought how ironic it was under the circumstances, because this year, the fall tree foliage seems more beautiful, and has lasted longer then I can remember. That's probably not the case; maybe I just noticed it more this year even though it's always been there...right in front of me.

A native of Maryland, I've spent my entire life here and lived through dozens (nearly 50!) fall seasons. Perhaps that's the reason I've always taken the fall splendor for granted. But soon it will be winter and the colors will fade to brown against the background of a grey sky that seems to loom over us until spring arrives next year. And just like that, it happens every year...right?

Well, if we're lucky it will and I think most of us take that for granted. Is that necessarily a bad thing? I don't really think so, but I do wonder why it often takes something like a beautiful fall day to recognize that every new day we're given is a gift. This is probably happened to all of us; after we've lost something...or someone, we quickly come to understand what we had before it was gone. And in many cases, we wish we could have a "do-over" so we might do things a little different.

While we can't change the past, here's the really good news; every day brings with it the opportunity to start all over (that right, a do-over). It's the opportunity to learn from the past and change how we think, feel and act.

This week, reflect a little on your life. What are some of the things you take for granted? Whether it's the big things like our family and friends, the warm comfort of our home on a cold night, the freedom we enjoy as Americans, or a small thing like hot water for our morning shower (everyone can relate to no hot water), make a conscience effort to recognize these as gifts to be grateful for. So metaphorically speaking, it's important to see the forest, but take a second to notice the trees.

It's really amazing what happens when we spend more of our energies on being grateful...the things that bother us don't seem nearly as bad any more.

Make it your best week, Joe

Oh, by the way, don't take for grated one of our most precious rights...the right to vote. It's a privilege and our civic duty!

Fall Cleanup for Your Computer

By Melissa Kinna, Director of Creative Marketing & Technology

Fall is here, and many of us are like the squirrels gathering for the winter, as we make sure all maintenance around the house is complete before the cold weather arrives. However, some of us forget about one of the most important maintenance projects - cleaning out our computer. We use our computers on a daily basis, yet we tend to forget that they need a little tune up as well. Here are two easy cleanup tasks you can run on your computer to help improve its performance.

Free Up Disk Space with the Disk Cleanup Tool

The Disk Cleanup tool helps you free up space on your hard disk to improve the performance of your computer. The tool identifies files that you can safely delete, and then enables you to choose whether you want to delete some or all of the identified files.

Use Disk Cleanup to:

Remove temporary Internet files.
Remove Windows temporary files such as error reports.
Remove optional Windows components that you do not use.
Remove installed programs that you no longer use.
Remove unused restore points and shadow copies from System Restore.

How to Run a Disk Cleanup, Click the Following:

1. Start - All Programs - Accessories - System Tools - Disk Cleanup

When Disk Cleanup has calculated how much space you can free, scroll through the content of the Files to delete list and un-check the items you to not want to delete and then click OK.

After a few minutes, the process completes and the Disk Cleanup dialog box closes, leaving your computer cleaner and performing better.

Speed up Access to Data with the Disk Defragmenter

Disk fragmentation slows the overall performance of your system. When files are fragmented, the computer must search the hard disk when the file is opened to piece it back together. The response time can be significantly longer.

In addition to running Disk Defragmenter at regular intervals, monthly is best, but there are other times you should run it too, such as when: