Vintage Fishing Lure Collectors: Ebay is Your Best Friend by J Campbell
The headline above should be eBay’s appeal to any collector of vintage fishing lures or tackle. Even if it didn’t serve the function of opening up a huge new marketplace for buyers and sellers of vintage lures who would otherwise have to rely on other methods of finding lures, the vast information source that is at lure collector’s disposal with eBay would still be amazing for that reason alone.
The access to the volume of data on lure values for research purposes and for buying or selling just didn’t exist before eBay came along. With between 10,000 and 20,000 auctions everyday for vintage fishing lures and tackle, eBay provides a key resource for reference to when looking for price data. This type of information in the past had to be found in very small pieces through a small network of friends and collectors or tackle shows. Now by looking through the completed auctions section of eBay and reviewing active listings recent and current sell values can be found. Both of these will be helpful for either buyers or sellers of vintage lures who want to make informed value decisions.
While using vintage lure books and a network of collectors are still valuable resources for learning about pricing methodology, grading, and lure history as well as for other finer detail aspects of collecting vintage lures, eBay is becoming the place to look for up to date price values and trends.
A vintage lure collector should definitely use all resources at his disposal to become educated in the pastime with books, tackle shows, and other collectors serving as information resources that cannot be duplicated by eBay information, but eBay has a definite place that the other resources cannot duplicate.
If you are a collector of any type of vintage fishing lures and tackle including Heddon, Creek Chub, Pflueger, South Bend, Shakespeare, Arbogast, Paw Paw, Rapala, Bomber, or old Fly Fishing lures, vintage fishing reels, rods, creels, catalogs, or tackle boxes, then you will find items to add to your collection available on eBay.
Home Based Business – Will Work For You? by Cristian Butnariu
Online Business Ideas When you are in search of new sources of income or revenue rounding legal, online businesses can be the ideal solution. The main reason that online business is recommended because it offers flexibility that does not require your presence 24h/daily, you can take care of them part-time, in addition to your daily activities.
As you step into this area, you’ll find online business ideas come in two general categories:
Selling products online
Simplified recipe is this: you have a product and want to sell it online. Thanks to the Internet go to a global market; you’re not limited to a specific trade see as corner stores are limited. Almost any product can be sold in stores; you can sell on the Internet. It can be created for you products (handicrafts, clothing, models, software, art objects, etc…), or on your own products that they buy from the manufacturer (electrical components, jewellery, accessories, etc…). You can even be an intermediary between customers and dealers. Customer orders on site and you honour your order by mail or courier with cash.
Online Services
The second largest category of ideas give online business is the provision of services. Instead of selling products online, provide services (web design, promotion and marketing, consulting, translations, content creation, etc…).
You can monetize their skills and passions by providing services and becoming a freelancer, but beyond these subjective skills, there is a service that can offer almost any site you have enough visitors. It’s called advertising. If your site is very interested companies visited where you can offer a service that every trader needs, namely advertising, trade soul. In these two broad categories: selling products and services offering, we include all business ideas online.
If you decide to step into the fascinating world of online business, you need a personality open to new, flexible to adapt on the fly, willingness to learn new things and above all more self-confidence.
Internet Business
Do you want to have a profitable business, to become your own boss, make more money? We all want this. The problem is that the desire to facts is a long way. To start a business nowadays is very hard and expensive.
For example, if you want to open a sporting goods store, first you need a space, then you need a lot of permits and papers, then you need to be employed pay them and this brings additional costs per employee. It is very complicated and need a lot of money.
But there is a very good solution for all. This solution is the business on the Internet. If you stick to the original idea of â
Spanish tapas – the small plate with the BIG flavour! by Steve Lean
Imagine yourself on the terrace of an informal Spanish tapas bar. All around you, lively locals are engaged in animated conversation over their evening drinks. The atmosphere is buzzing – and loud!
In front of you is a carafe of house wine, two glasses and your best friend. As you are chatting and enjoying the ambience, you are both picking at a small plate of mixed tapas with your fingers. (Only tourists use a fork!)
There is serrano ham (jamon), some chorizo, maybe some Manchego cheese and some olives. You have some extra-virgin olive oil dribbled onto your plate and a little basket of fresh crusty bread to mop it up with.
The setting sun is warm on your face, the air is heavy with scent and you’ve just found the true flavour of the real Spain. Your very own little piece of tapas heaven!
But what is tapas and where did it originate? Tapas is simply a small snack or appetiser taken with a drink or two at lunchtime or in the early evening before the main meal. The Spanish generally won’t drink without eating something and originally these small snacks were given free to anyone who bought a drink. Now almost all bars will charge you for anything other than maybe a bowl of olives.
The origins of tapas are the subject of many an argument in the local bar. (It seems to depend on which area of Spain you are from!) It is said that the first tapa was simply a hunk of bread which was placed over the glass to keep the flies out. Hence the word ‘tapas’ was born. Tapa literally meaning ‘cover’ or ‘lid’.
In the beginning somewhere must have been the humble olive. What better accompaniment to a glass of dry fino sherry? Or perhaps some almonds; fried in olive oil, sprinkled with salt and served while they’re still hot? These are the original tapas; the simplest of foods, requiring little or no preparation.
As the tradition developed, tapas became more of an elaborate event, with each region developing their own specialities. They were still ‘little dishes’ but the personalities of thousands of bar owners has stamped them with the identities that they have today.
Such is the diversity of tapas that in bars all over Spain and the world you can order virtually anything that takes your fancy. From an exotically-flavoured, spicy Moorish dish to a simple bowl of olives, the choice is entirely yours. But oh, my friend, what a choice it is!
How about a plate of succulent, wafer-thin slices of serrano ham or jamon iberico? If you haven’t tried this yet then you have missed out on one of life’s gastronomic pleasures. It truly is heaven on a small plate!
A glass of Manzanilla sherry with some salty and nutty Manchego cheese is very popular with the Spanish locals. It doesn’t come much simpler and it takes some serious beating. All these wonderful flavours and we haven’t even started cooking yet!
Spain’s landscape is extremely diverse and covers areas such as mountain ranges and dusty plains, olive and fruit groves plus fertile orchards and rich arable lands. Spain also has climate extremes. Regions that are cold and wet, regions that are hot and dry, and just about everything in between. It has a huge coastline, facing both the Atlantic ocean and the Mediterranean sea. Hardly surprising then, that the cuisine of its coastal regions is very heavily based on fish and seafood.
The northern coastal regions have both fish and seafood from the Atlantic ocean and some of the finest cattle, sheep and dairy foods in Spain. The climate here is relatively cold and wet so recipes tend to be hearty, warming and filling. The hot southern coastal region is the land of olives, olive oil and sizzling fried fish from around the long coastline. The food of the eastern coast is exciting and richly varied. Here there are groves of oranges and almonds, large market gardens, rice fields, aromatic herbs and noticeable similarities with French mediterranean food. The western and central areas are lands of hardy countrymen, lamb and pig roasts and simple hearty cooking with many stew-type dishes. Also from here comes Spain’s best-known cheese: Manchego, as well as many other sheeps’ milk cheeses.
Tapas has evolved throughout the country’s long history and through the incorporation of many ingredients and influences from different cultures and countries.
The east coast was invaded by the Romans, who introduced the olive and irrigation methods.
The invasion of the north-African Moors in the 8th century also brought olives to the south, as well as almonds, citrus fruits and fragrant spices. The influences of their 700 year occupation remain today, especially in Andalucia.
The discovery of the New World brought with it the introduction of tomatoes, sweet peppers (capiscums), chilli peppers, beans and potatoes. These were readily accepted and easily grown in Spain’s ideal micro-climates.
Spanish food, and especially tapas, is based on simple methods and the imaginative use of seasonal vegetables and local ingredients. You can make your tapas with anything you like, there are no ‘specific to tapas’ ingredients.
Although to fully experience Spanish tapas at its best you should try a few of the classic dishes like tortilla (omelette), albondigas (meatballs) and calamares (squid). Tapas is essentially hearty and unpretentious. Ingredients are fresh, flavours are robust and recipes are easy. Preparation and presentation is generally pretty straightforward.
Why do they eat this way? Tapas is essentially a style of eating rather than a form of cooking. It means sociability, friends and family. People of a like mind talking and drinking in a relaxed atmosphere while nibbling away on little bites of intense flavour.
You can keep it simple or you can make it as complicated as you like but whichever way you prefer it, tapas is best served with an early evening drink among friends and lively company. You will not, I promise you, find a more pleasurable and flavour-filled experience anywhere in the world.
Wherever you live, these ‘little dishes’ will give you a tasty little mouthful of the real Spain. So sit back, take your time and enjoy your tapas to the full. There is no better way to sample the real essence of Spanish life and culture.
About the Author
Steve Lean lives in Andalucia, southern Spain and is the webmaster of Proper Spanish Tapas where you can find ‘Everything you ever wanted to know about tapas – the small plate with the BIG flavour.’
Use your boat, plane, or motor home in your small business to create tax deductions. What is now a hobby, for example flying, fishing or sailing, can be turned into a tax deductible small business enterprise, simply by showing the intent to make a profit. Assets used in a business that contribute directly to the production of income are tax deductible, even if you own them personally. Consider the following example.
Sam lives and breathes fishing. Year after year, he trailers his 30 foot Boat behind his Chev van from his home in Toronto, to North Bay. Sam was already selling his catch to local restaurants, often at a handsome profit, which meant that he was in a tax deductible business. Sam also wrote to manufacturers of fishing rods, reels and lures, to see if he could become a distributor and received several enthusiastic replies, especially from the smaller companies. He bought several samples at wholesale and began to show them to fellow anglers. He used his boat to house, display and demonstrate his new line of fishing equipment. Not only has Sam picked up some unexpected income from his venture, but also his expensive hobby has now become a personally and financially rewarding, tax deductible small business. Look how Sam benefited the first year alone from his small fishing related business.
The possibilities are endless. Stew combined his interest in flying with another inteest, photography, and started a small business he calls “Aerial Shots by Stew.” He printed brochures and business cards and contacted Realtors, the Chamber of Commerce, and the city planning commission about his new venture. He also ran ads in the classified section of the newspaper offering to give guided air tours for new families moving into the area (for this, he was required to get an additional license). His weekend, part time business is thriving and he was able to convert two hobbies into a fun and profitable business. Most of all, he was able to afford his dream of owning his own plane.
There are countless other ways to use recreational assets in a small business and take advantage of the tax deductions and profit potential. Here are a few ideas:
Using your plane for flying lessons.
Sailing lessons on your sailboat.
Chartered fishing trips on your fishing boat.
Water skiing lessons using your boat and tax deductible skis.
Using your motor home as the principal office for your small business or to display products or services offered.
Using your motor home as a travelling billboard with your ad painted on the side.
Use Third Party Leasing To Make Recreational Assets Deductible.
Third party leasing means offering your boat, motor home or aeroplane for rent at fair market rental value, using someone other than yourself as the leasing agent. You may also deduct the business use percentage of the interest you pay on the loans for recreational assets. When you rent through a third party in the business of leasing, your recreational asset is considered to be used for business purposes. This covers the entire time the asset is available for you, whether or not it is actually used.
If you use the asset for two weeks per year for personal use, and the asset is available for rent for business the balance of the year, you would be granted 50/52 or 96% of the total available tax deductions, including capital cost allowance.
If you are active in the leasing business, and want to offer your products for rent, you can deduct all costs involved such as approving all leases, formulating a business plan, contracting for maintenance, doing regular inspections and keeping the business records yourself.
You also would then qualify to take all expense deductions including capital cost allowance against current income from all sources.
To legitimize your deductions, you can post ads in places like marinas and in the yellow pages.
About the Author
Dan White is a professional speaker, writer, and business consultant, with extensive business and tax experience.
He has held senior positions in a number of significant companies, and is involved in an advisory capacity to education in Ontario. He is the founder and president of WNBC, a world-leading business networking and consulting company.
For over fifteen years, he has been actively involved in teaching people how to avoid paying thousa
“Find the River” – plein air painting on Montana’s Gallatin
When you mention the city, Taos, New Mexico, deserts and tumbleweeds come to mind. It’s certainly not the first place most would think of when planning a ski vacation. Surprisingly, however, situated only 15 miles northeast of Taos, nestled in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, is the Village of Taos Ski Valley.
The Village is home to the Taos Ski Valley Ski Resort boasting a top rated ski school, expert ski runs, snowboarding, snowshoeing, and cross-country skiing. They host numerous special events such as snowmobile tours, the Taos Winter Wine Festival, and the Salomon Extreme Freeride Championship.
If you need a break from the snow, a short drive down the canyon to the Rio Grande Gorge provides year round hiking, biking and horseback riding. The spring and summer bring rafting, kayaking and Fly Fishing to the Rio Grande.
The economy in the Village of Taos Ski Valley is mainly supported by tourism. Many of the area’s local businesses close during the slow seasons, typical of a resort community. The following population numbers illustrate the number of part time and seasonal residents.
Population
Estimated permanent population in 2005: 63 Estimated part time residents: 120 Average daily tourist occupancy: 2000 Average skier visits per year: 250,000
Condos and Vacation Rentals
There are a number of condominiums available for sale as vacation properties, some of the leasing companies include:
Kandahar Condominiums: These are all individually owned and decorated properties, located right next to the ski slopes. The 2 bedroom units come complete with fully equipped kitchens, cable television, fireplaces and balconies.
Las Posadas Properties: They have a large selection of condominiums as well as private homes. They also offer property management, security services, and reservation services for home owners.
Powderhorn Condominiums: These are upscale properties with a casual southwestern style combined with a European flair. The units have fireplaces, scenic balconies and kitchens, and are located only 100 yards from the chair lift.
Taos Ski Valley Property: They offer a huge selection of condominiums, private homes and lodges in Taos Ski Valley. They also offer a property management service for vacation rentals.
Wheeler Peak Condos: These are a newer luxury condominium boasting spectacular views, ski-in, ski-out, 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, full kitchens, fireplace, Satellite TV, wireless internet, and washer/dryer.
