Setting goals is only the first step toward success. Achieving those goals is a matter of hard work, timing, and a certain amount of luck. Here are four essentials for generating the results you want:

• Don’t confuse goals with dreams. Dreams are vague and lack urgency. Goals lay down incremental, necessary checkpoints to your ultimate success. Your dream may be “Working as CEO of a large company by age 50,” but the immediate goal that gets you started could be “Lead my department, above all other departments, in productivity this month.”
• Build your confidence. Accomplishing short-term goals will help you develop the sense that you’re really accomplishing something. The stronger your sense of accomplishment, the more successful you’ll be at tackling the larger goals.
• Give yourself rewards. The reward doesn’t have to be large, but it’s important to celebrate small victories along the way.
• Stick with one goal. It’s easy to get sidetracked as you’re heading toward the finish line. Focus on completing one goal before you place your energies elsewhere, or you’ll end up with a sad surplus of half-completed goals.
• Be Flexible.  It is important to stay on track but don’t let road blocks or time delays stop you.  Be ready and expect to have to adjust your strategy and even your expectations.

 Preserve Protect & Defend Mortgage Interest Deduction (MID)

Warning signs have appeared on Capitol Hill about mortgage interest deductibility.  You can shape legislation by being heard early and with strong conviction.  This is one of those times! Congress needs to hear from you!  Homeowners have already taken a big hit and losing the Mortgage Interest Deduction (MID) on your taxes will only cause more injury.

Associations such as the National Association of Realtors (NAR) are asking realtors and homeowners to write their local representatives to cosponsor the bi-partisan House resolution H.Res25.  The H.Res25 resolution affirms the value and importance of the Mortgage Interest Deduction.

Economic recovery is not possible without a vibrant housing market!

Ron Phipps  YouTube Video

Summary of NAR statement

"The last full moon so big and close to Earth occurred in March of 1983," says Geoff Chester of the U.S. Naval Observatory in Washington D.C. "I'd say it's worth a look."

Why the "Super Moon" label? "A 'Super Moon' is a situation when the moon is slightly closer to Earth in its orbit than on average, and this effect is most noticeable when it occurs at the same time as a full moon," says James Garvin, chief scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.

It's so close because the moon's orbit around the Earth is not a perfect circle, but an ellipse, according to Weather Channel meteorologist Tim Ballisty.

When the Moon's orbit takes it the farthest away from Earth, the moon is at its "apogee," Ballisty says. When it makes its closest approach, the moon is at its "perigee."

So not only it be a full moon Saturday, but it will also be at its perigee. This month's perigee will put the moon about 8% closer to Earth than usual, and about 2% closer to Earth than the average lunar perigee.

The best time to look at the full moon is when it's near the horizon. That is when illusion mixes with reality to produce a truly stunning view, NASA reports. Low-hanging moons look unnaturally large when they beam through trees, buildings and other foreground objects.

According to NASA and NOAA, although a perigee moon brings with it extra-high "perigean tides," it's nothing to worry about. In most places, lunar gravity at perigee pulls tide waters only about an inch or so higher than usual. Local geography can amplify the effect to about six inches.

Don't be concerned about other natural disasters, either: The Super Moon of March 1983, for instance, passed without incident. And an almost-Super Moon in December 2008 also proved harmless.

"The effects on Earth from a supermoon are minor," says NASA's Garvin, "and according to the most detailed studies by terrestrial seismologists and volcanologists, the combination of the moon being at its closest to Earth in its orbit, and being in its 'full moon' configuration (relative to the Earth and sun), should not affect the internal energy balance of the Earth, since there are lunar tides every day."

At its closest on Saturday night, the moon will pass by Earth at a distance of about 221,567 miles.

re-post from USA Today online

1.       Only buy or fill up your car or truck in the early morning when the ground temperature is still cold. Service stations have their storage tanks buried below ground. The colder the ground the more dense the gasoline, when it gets warmer gasoline expands, so buying in the afternoon or in the evening....your gallon is not exactly a gallon. In the petroleum business, the specific gravity and the temperature of the gasoline, diesel and jet fuel, ethanol and other petroleum products plays an important role.  Service stations do not have temperature compensation at the pumps.

2.       When you're filling up do not squeeze the trigger of the nozzle to a fast mode.  The trigger has three (3) stages: low, middle, and high. Pump on low mode, thereby minimizing the vapors that are created while you are pumping. All hoses at the pump have a vapor return. If you are pumping on the fast rate, some of the liquid that goes to your tank becomes vapor. Those vapors are being sucked up and back into the underground storage tank so you're getting less worth for your money.

3.       One of the most important tips is to fill up when your gas tank is HALF FULL. The reason for this is the more gas you have in your tank the less air occupying its empty space. Gasoline evaporates faster than you can imagine. Gasoline storage tanks have an internal floating roof. This roof serves as zero clearance between the gas and the atmosphere, so it minimizes the evaporation.

4.       Another reminder, if there is a gasoline truck pumping into the storage tanks when you stop to buy gas, DO NOT fill up; most likely the gasoline is being stirred up as the gas is being delivered, and you might pick up some of the dirt that normally settles on the bottom.

The first heist occurred at the Fred Loya Insurance office at 10928 W. FM 1960 near Jones Road about 1 p.m.Feb. 17, officials said.

Authorities said they believe the same two men robbed another Fred Loya office at 6407 Hillcroft near Sand Point Drive about 1:35 p.m.Feb. 19.

In the earlier robbery, the two men walked into the office and one of the men pulled out a gun, pointed it at the three workers in the office and demanded cash. He then forced the employees into a back room at gun point and ordered them to give him their personal property.

The other man rummaged through the office.

Then the men left with an undisclosed amount of cash and the victims' possessions. They were seen in a vehicle described only as white.

The office's surveillance camera recorded images of the men.

One of the men is between 20 years old and 30 years old. He is about 5 feet 6 inches tall and has a medium build. He wore a white polo short, green camouflage pants and a white cap.

The other man is described as in his 20s, about 5 feet 4 inches tall and skinny. He wore a blue denim jacket with the letters "S C" in black on the front, blue jeans and a cap.

Anyone with information about the robberies is urged to contact Crime Stoppers at 713-222-TIPS or on-line at www.crime-stoppers.org. Tips can also be sent by text message. Text TIP610 and tips to CRIMES.

Crime Stoppers will pay up to $5,000 for any information that leads to the men being charged or arrested.