One week and forty years ago, I bought a ticket to a musical event which was supposed to be kinda special. The guy who sold me the ticket said he’d expected more than thirty five thousand people there. I though out loud, “Where are they gonna find thirty five thousand freaks?”.  He said: “You’ll be surprised.”

Well, I’ve never been known for small mistakes. One week later, not only was I surprised, but so was the world, as four hundred thousand people made it to that small farm in update New York for three days of Peace, Love and Music, with another hundred thousand stuck on the New York State Throughway, which had, that day, become the largest parking lot in the world.

There were far more of us in the movement than I thought. In fact, we were a nation, as Abbie Hoffman called it, “The Woodstock Nation”.  On that day, forty years ago tomorrow, as we shared what little food and water there was, in this impromptu city, the size of the population of San Francisco, the revolution was born.

We could change the world, we thought.

Flash forward forty years, there are still endless wars, massive poverty, and a corporate domination of politics and our lives which rivaled anything in our nightmares. Yet, you can hear Crosby, Still, Nash and Young  oozing from the loudpeakers in the chain pharmacies and Jimmy Hendrix is frequently played in office elevators… and now, for the first time, we have our first multi-racial President. Whether we’ve changed the world in form, or essence, only time will tell, for like Dylan said: “the wheel’s still in spin.”

How ever it goes, happy anniversary to the Woodstock Nation. May your freak flag always fly.

I’ve always perspired allot, but usually when conducting strenuous physical activities In the last few years, I’ve noticed a significant increase in my sweating. I can no longer wear the dress shirt all day; in fact, I carry a second shirt with me when I have an appointment of any consequence. In spite of ice cold air conditioning in my car, the back of my shirt is usually soaked through before I arrive at my destination. And I can no longer comfortably enjoy resting my forearms on the arm rest of my leather couch. They stick there – even just minutes after a shower!

Excessive sweating is cumbersome and unpleasant. If you suffer from the same condition, or know someone who does, I have a free report for you. Here’s the download link. I can’t say that this report will cure your ills, or end your misery, but it might help your understanding and point you in the right direction.

According to the author, here are just a few of the benefits of using the Dynamic Theme Unit methods to home school your children.:

• There will be less stress in the home school environment
  
• Children will be More willing to learn
• They will have better retention
• Children will develop greater self reliance
• You’ll have a more satisfying family life
• There’ll be happier kids and parents

While I am not yet personally familiar with these techniques, and have created an affiliate relationship, I believe this is a product worth looking into.

If you have to spend money, one of the best places to get the biggest bang for the buck, is at the local flea market.  It’s a place where vendors of all kinds set up their products in one place so potential buyers can walk around and see items both new and used at bargain prices.  One caveat though, be disciplined.  There is so many items to choose from, then you may end up spending far more than you had planned items that you hadn’t considered or genuinely need.

Make your day at the flea market and adventure, but plan adequately for it.  If the flea market is outdoors make sure you wear a hat and throw on some sunscreen.  Get there early for the best selection.  And bring a bag or cart so you don’t have to lug heavy items around with you for the entire day.

It’s also a good idea to have some fairly good walking shoes, since you will be spending a good deal of time on your feet and you don’t want your day ended abruptly because of pain.

Most people begin their walk through the flea market at the entrance, but you should do the opposite.  Begin your journey at the end of the market so that when your’re tired at the end of the day your close to your car. In addition starting at the end of the market will enable you to see booths that other people haven’t gotten to yet and thus have access to many of the bargains before others can scoop them up.

It is acceptable, and often expected that you try to bargain with the set prices the vendors ask.  It doesn’t always work, but you got nothing to lose by trying.  It’s up for debate whether the best time to bargain with the vendor is at the beginning of the day or just before the market closes.  At the top of the day, the flea market vendor often wants to break the ice with a quick sale, however at that time he’s fairly optimistic and hopes to sell out as many items as you can at the maximum price.

At the end of the day, most flea market vendors are more amenable to bargaining.  They’d rather sell at a discount and make a little money rather than pack it back up in their cars or trucks and make nothing at all.  Of course waiting till the end of the day runs the risk of your desired item having already been purchased by another.  You’ve got to decide just how badly you want that item and make your decisions accordingly.

There a couple of ways to negotiate the price of an item.  One way is to flat out asked the vendor his bottom price for the item.  Another is to offer a set price and hope he accepts your offer.  It’s often helpful to have that amount readily in your hand when you make the offer, as the sight of green paper to anyone trying to earn a living in retail, is very appealing.

Some people, willing to risk losing the item to another customer, hold off on making a purchase until they’ve scouted the entire market.  Often one vendor sells the same product for considerably less than another.  If you’re willing to run the risk of losing the item for the sake of the potential savings, make sure you write down the exact location of the original vendor because at the end of the day one booth looks the same as another.

Flea markets have great items at even greater prices, but beware they also sell well packaged garbage.  I’ve personally had experiences where I’ve bought cheap substitutes which broke the first or second time I used it, resulting in my having to buy the product again, often at the original retail price.