November 2018

Dear Friend,

Now that the holiday season is fully upon us, you’ll be looking for an opportunity to take a breather. I hope you have a few minutes to grab a hot chocolate and enjoy my newsletter.

This month’s newsletter has some good life reminders:

• An article explains why we need vitamin D, especially in winter
• How and why to clean your laptop
• Common people foods to avoid giving to your dogs
• For no particular reason, some fun facts about peaches
• And much more!

When you’ve had time to relax after reading November’s Cliff’s Notes on real estate… you may begin having thoughts on selling your home, either this winter or next spring. If that’s so, give me a call (650) 346-7366 to start going through the preparations.

Thank you. And, don’t forget to enter This Month’s Quiz, you could be drinking FREE coffee soon!

Your friend in the real estate business,

Cliff

Cliff Keith

650-346-7366 Cell/Text

Cliff@SFBayHomes.com

Be A Confident Mariner

Many years ago, Rene Henry invited some friends for an afternoon on his sailboat on Santa Monica Bay. The good times quickly soured when a thick blanket of fog appeared, making visibility almost nonexistent.

For Henry, who regularly raced his boat and sailed every month of the year, the fog was of no concern. GPS was not available at this time, but armed with a compass and nautical chart, Henry plotted a solid course that would bring the boat safely back to the marina.

Suddenly, Henry’s boat was nearly cut off by several sailboats that emerged from the fog. Henry’s guests noticed that the long line of boats was headed in a different direction from their own and suggested that the best course of action was to follow their lead. “All those captains couldn’t be wrong”, they said.

Despite his friends’ fears, Henry re-positioned himself at the wheel and put the boat back on the course he’d established previously. His years of sailing experience had made him an able mariner, and sure enough, he delivered his party safely back to the marina.Henry was confident in the course he had charted but agreed to recheck his calculations. He shifted control of the wheel over to his friend, so he could go below deck. When he returned, he realized his friend had taken them off course to follow the other boats.

Later that evening, Henry received a call from a friend who told him about how several sailboats had crashed onto the breakers at Venice Beach due to the fog.

Henry’s experience is a good example of why you should trust your abilities, and never blindly follow someone else’s lead. ~ Cliff

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INSIDE THIS ISSUE

Catch Some Rays This Winter

If you shun the sun, suffer from milk allergies, or adhere to a strict vegan diet, you may be at risk for vitamin D deficiency, according to WebMD.

Known as the “sunshine” vitamin, vitamin D is produced by the body from cholesterol when your skin is exposed to unfiltered sunlight— best taken in for about 10 to 15 minutes per day. Vitamin D also occurs naturally in a few foods including some fish and fish liver oils, egg yolks, and in fortified dairy and grain products, although it’s very difficult to absorb enough vitamin D from diet alone.

What makes vitamin D so special is that, unlike other vitamins, it functions like a hormone, and every single cell in your body has a receptor for it. Having a vitamin D deficiency is very common. It’s estimated that about one billion people worldwide have low levels of the vitamin in their blood.

Here are 7 common risk factors linked to a vitamin D deficiency:

• Having dark skin
• Being elderly
• Being overweight or obese
• Eating little fish or dairy
• Living far from the equator where there is not much sun year-round
• Always using sunscreen when going out
• Staying indoors

Whether you’re getting your vitamin D from the sun or a supplement, you might also want to pay attention to how much magnesium you’re getting as well. Nutritionists say that vitamin D can’t metabolize effectively without sufficient amounts of magnesium, which transforms the vitamin into usable form inside a human body.

You can solve a lot of health woes by frequently eating salads and other green vegetables while sitting in the sun!

November Quiz Question

Q: Name two companies whose names have become verbs.

Everyone who texts, emails or calls in the correct answer by the last day of this month will be entered a drawing for a $30 gift certificate to Starbucks

October Question

Q:  What is Allspice also known as?

A:  Pimenta.

How To Clean Your Laptop

Even if a grimy laptop doesn’t bother you, it’s arguably not the most professional way to present yourself. But beyond aesthetics, a dirty laptop can limit the life of the computer.

Fortunately, you don’t need to shell out for a fancy cleaning kit to get your machine sparkly clean.

The four essentials for keeping a pristine computer are rubbing alcohol (90 percent isopropyl or higher), microfiber cloths, cotton swabs, and canned air.

The canned air is meant for blasting out crumbs, pet hair and other debris from the crevices of your machine, including under the keys. Start there.

If your laptop is designed to be taken apart, once you’ve turned it off, unplugged it and taken out the battery, you can use canned air on the inside hardware, too. Why clean the inside? Because buildup of any kind can make your computer more susceptible to overheating, which can cause it to stop working.

Before using canned air, first, do a test spray away from your laptop to clear the nozzle, then go to town on the headphone jack, keyboard — anywhere some unwanted particles could have found their way in. Spray in short bursts to prevent condensation buildup.

Then, wipe away whatever the air has unearthed, using your microfiber cloth. To clean grime, use rubbing alcohol applied to cotton swabs (not to the machine directly).

“Sleep is the best meditation.” ~ Dalai Lama

“Sleep On It” Isn’t Just A Saying 

Many people report that when they wake after a good night’s sleep, they find solutions and ideas they hadn’t been able to think of the day before.

An article on the Medical News Today website explains why. According to neuroscientists, sleep is essential for consolidating memories. Insufficient or poor sleep makes the synapses in your brain less effective, which interferes with your ability to learn and sort information.

Recent studies also suggest that taking a quick nap, or even just resting quietly for 10 minutes or so, can help new information settle into your memory so you can access it more readily afterwards.

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Common People Foods That Are Bad For Dogs

While tempting to give Fido extra goodies, not knowing what is and isn’t safe for dogs can cause serious harm. In particular, you should avoid giving your dog these common human treats:

Alcoholic beverages and food containing alcohol can cause vomiting, diarrhea, decreased coordination, central nervous system depression, difficulty breathing, tremors, abnormal blood acidity, coma and even death. Under no circumstances should your pet be given any alcohol.

Chocolate, coffee and caffeine all contain substances called methylxanthines, which are found in cacao seeds, the fruit of the plant used to make coffee, and in the nuts of an extract used in some sodas. When ingested by pets, methylxanthines can cause vomiting and diarrhea, panting, excessive thirst and urination, hyperactivity, abnormal heart rhythm, tremors, seizures and even death. Note that darker chocolate (including baking chocolate) is more dangerous than lighter chocolate.

Grapes and raisins can cause dogs to develop acute kidney injury (the sudden development of kidney failure) with anuria (a lack of urine production). The phenomenon was first identified by the Animal Poison Control Center (APCC), run by the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA). Approximately 140 cases were seen by the APCC in the one year from April 2003 to April 2004, with 50 developing symptoms.

A New Initiative To Find E.T.

The search for extraterrestrial life is moving to a new, more ambitious phase, reports an article on the Independent website. Up until now, scientists have been restricted to surveying a relatively small area of the sky, studying stars only a few light-years from Earth. A new project, called Breakthrough Listen, will use new technology at the Parkes telescope in Australia to scan a much wider area of the sky more quickly than before.

The Parkes telescope and others will gather 1,500 hours of data in 2018, then analyze it for any phenomena that appear artificial—while ruling out activity from Earth.

The project is one of several from Breakthrough, one of which includes a plan to send small spacecraft on deep-space missions far from Earth.

Whose Surprise Is It?

“No peeking,” Reggie’s dad said. Reggie shielded his eyes. His father’s hands rested on his shoulders and slowly guided the boy to the family’s living room.

“Happy birthday!” his dad said. “You can look now.”

“Oh boy!” Reggie yelled as he ran across the room and hugged the neck of a huge hound dog. The dog and the boy stood nose to nose and then the dog licked the birthday boy in the face.

Reggie turned to his dad and asked, “Is he for me, or am I for him?”

“If you try to fail but succeed, which have you done?” ~ George Carlin

Build Impulse-Control In Your Children

You might have heard of the famous Marshmallow Test, a study that looked at impulse control in a group of young children. The conclusion, accepted for many years, was that the children who displayed impulse control had better grades and were more successful in life.

However, this research did not control for an individual’s ability to learn impulse control. Child behavior researchers offer many approaches to teaching children self-control, including this interesting technique:

Disrupt habits: Researchers believe one of the best ways to teach self-regulation is to provoke a child’s ability to resist small impulses, kind of like building up an immunity to impulsive behavior.

An easy way to do this is by occasionally changing the rules when playing games that have children follow a specific set of directions. In the game “Red light, green light,” for example, children are allowed to move about when they hear, “green light,” and they must stop moving when they hear, “red light.” When you change the rules so that red means “go” and green means “stop,” you teach your children to ignore an impulse, go against habit, and fulfill new expectations.

Your Intangible Legacy

As most of us get older we begin to think about the things we will leave our loved ones after we depart this earthly plane. Money, property, and heirlooms occupy most of our considerations in this matter.

Yet we often overlook many priceless treasures that we possess and have inherited from others…

Do you share your father’s work ethic, your mother’s tenaciousness, your grandmother’s loving spirit, and your grandfather’s resilience? How we live our daily lives, the choices we make, and our values are influenced by the examples passed down to us from our ancestors. These are the legacies that shape our identity and interactions with others.

Share these explicitly with kids and grand-kids, helping them see and appreciate these values that they’ve learned from you.

“Carve your name on hearts, not tombstones. A legacy is etched into the minds of the others and the stories they share about you.” ~ Shannon L. Alder

That’s Just Peachy!

Peach lovers, here are a few fun facts to consider about this yummy fruit:

• 

  Peaches are native to China and countries of the Middle East. There is evidence they have been cultivated since 6000 B. C.

• They were transported to the New World by Spanish explorers who planted the first orchard in Florida in 1565.
• 50% of the peaches sold throughout the world are exported from China.
• Researchers believe the phenolic compounds in peaches have anti-inflammatory and anti-obesity properties.
• The fruit is also a good source of both vitamins A and C, and other minerals.
• Freestone or clingstone are the two main varieties and describe whether or not the fruit clings to the pit in the center of the fruit.

Peaches are in season in the Northern Hemisphere in June through August. Winter peaches are available in some specialty stores that ship them in from countries in the Southern Hemisphere.

Just Part Of Growing Up

Your little one has just started kindergarten and is being exposed to all sorts of new exciting things. Children begin to notice toys, books, and other items their classmates have and realize they want these things, too.

One day you’re going through your child’s school bag and discover a bounty of other children’s belongings. Gasp! You’re the parent of thief! Relax. This is not altogether an uncommon stage of development for some 5- and 6-year-olds. However, you shouldn’t ignore what’s happening. It is a serious issue. What should you do?

Talk to them. They’re just little kids. They’re impulsive and don’t fully realize the implications of their actions—until you teach them right from wrong.

The best way to do that is with a calm but firm demeanor. Let your child know that when they take something that doesn’t belong to them, without permission, it is considered stealing. Explain to them that stealing is wrong and a serious offense. The child should return the item to its owner and apologize to them for taking it.

It may happen a few more times. When it does, your response needs to remain consistent. Children must be reminded that such actions are unacceptable, and be held accountable for what they’ve done. They must always apologize to those they’ve wronged, no matter how embarrassing or untimely it may be. Children will eventually begin to understand right from wrong. When they do, this behavior will come to an end.

Watch Out For Social Media On The Job

A survey of organizations with 1,000+ employees found that 8% have fired an employee for misbehavior related to social networks like Facebook or LinkedIn. How can you avoid joining them? Steer clear of these obvious online mistakes:

• Complaining about your boss or organization
• Posting that you’re looking for a new job
• Sharing confidential information about your organization
• Criticizing your co-workers online
• Posting inappropriate (or stupid) photos of yourself
• Sharing workplace rumors online
• Spending too much time on social networking sites when you should be working

Disclaimer…

This newsletter is intended for entertainment purposes only. Credit is given to the authors of various articles that are reprinted when the original author is known. Any omission of credit to an author is purely unintentional and should not be construed as plagiarism or literary theft.

Copyright 2018 Cliff Keith dba SF Bay Homes with Today | Sotheby’s International Realty. This information is solely advisory, and should not be substituted for medical, legal, financial or tax advice. Any and all decisions and actions must be done through the advice and counsel of a qualified physician, attorney, financial advisor

Newsletter August 2018

Cliff’s Notes on real estate…

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