The state of Virginia represents important chapters in the history of the United States of America. It is the site of one of the earliest British settlements and the place where epic battles were fought. Besides its historical background, Virginia offers some great places to stay and none are as perfect as the county of Virginia Beach.

Most wealthy individuals today have been made affluent by investing in real estate. Very few people nonetheless take proactive steps towards attaining wealth. Begin doing property investment if targeting personal prosperity. Anyone may buy Virginia Beach real estate as it is quite affordable. There are financiers available who provide loans according to different levels of individual need. Feel free to engage a suitable arrangement if keen on accessing a loan facility.

Secure a loan for purchasing your home within Virginia Beach. Undertaking this furnishes you with the advantage of completing loan repayment within ample range of time. Carry out refurbishment of your home before selling it off as this cause it to appreciate in value. Think of investing in properties within the up-market range once you have disposed the piece of real estate. Virginia Beach has many attractive houses which you can acquire. You may purchase residential buildings, flats, premises for executing business functions or even a Virginia Beach Condo.

Rest assured of attaining an impressive real estate deal in the State of Virginia. Property investments within this area fetch very good returns, especially due to high demand. Most persons owning property would crave to achieve dream offers on them. Any real estate investment you make within Virginia Beach ought therefore to appreciate well in price. Make additional investment in this locality after landing an awesome offer. Be very keen on what you do with money after getting it, since it is known to be very fluid. Direct some amount of cash towards offsetting basic necessities and recurrent debts.

Evaluate essential characteristics relating to Virginia Beach houses. Advertise your property immediately on making its sale public. Begin doing this in good time as you conduct important renovations on your construction piece since this kind of action shoots up its actual value. When scouting for property, avoid procuring real estate that is located on extreme outskirts of highways and major shopping centers. Where a building on sale is situated greatly affects its going rate. Do not be party to real estate agreements about property lying on remote locations.

People intent on purchasing Virginia Beach real estate face an array of options before them. Establish whichever type of construction structure interests you then go ahead to pay for it, even if this is beach front property. This locality is now experiencing mushrooming residential houses, even though it was once a hit summer destination.

Countless people wonder if a alternative treatment for chronic urticaria would be effective for them. Well, before I get to that, I want to address some other issues first. Now, whether you have been going through this ordeal with hives for many years, or have only recently begun to experience chronic urticaria. You might be fascinated in learning about some of the alternative remedies for urticaria and hives. Hives can be surprisingly intricate to deal with(at least the chronic type), but there are a number of ways to clear them up.

Commonly, people rely on antihistamines in the treatment of hives. As the name suggests, anti-histamines block or delay the body's production of histamines, which can lower inflammation and the itching of hives. In turn, this can cause them to go away faster, which is ideal for those suffering from acute hives or urticaria. Listed below are three ways to deal with this ailment.

No. 1: It's the most typical thing done in the curing of urticaria. It is based on the idea that urticaria or hives are a serious allergic reaction of the body. Although it works well for many people who develop hives on occasion, it does not normally provide reliable relief for those suffering from chronic hives and urticaria.

No. 2: Some folks prefer a more organic approach to address their urticaria and hives, and may choose to use holistic herbs as a way to deal with their symptoms. Although this may be the first time you used such herbs as a form of treating urticaria, it is actually analogous to using OTC antihistamines.

People who use these kind of herbs know that these herbs have natural antihistamine tendencies. They are full of compounds that avert the production of histamine. As such, the effectiveness of chronic hives and urticaria herbal remedies is very pronounced. Once again, it may be useful for people with passive issues or just need a little extra deflation of some symptoms, but it certainly will not cure the condition.

No. 3: An ever growing number of people use a hives or urticaria remedy that works from a different principle than just interpreting the urticaria or hives as a mere byproduct of an allergy. This treatment method holds that the hives and urticaria are the result of immune system reaction to an accumulation of micro-parasites and toxins in the body.

It should be noted that there's a crystal-clear distinction between the symptoms and treatment attitudes of hives and dealing with it's causes. It's evident that this difference is key to understanding a different technique of treatment for chronic urticaria and hives. Instead of centralizing your focus on the hives, this strategy helps the body get to the actual cause of the condition. This avenue may not be required for those with nonresistant hives, but does improve the results in more intense hives breakouts and other serious long-lived afflictions.

Hives or urticaria often flare up for many reasons. Many people(including doctors) see urticaria and hives as nothing more than an allergic reaction. Those who have dealt with it for an extended period of time know otherwise. Chronic idiopathic hives or urticaria is not because of a regular allergy and should be treated in a completely different way. Permanent hives or urticaria relief can be accomplished by getting at and correcting the underlying causes, and there can be quite a few.

Understand the difference between an illegal fake bag, a legal knock-off, and a genuine designer bag. Knowing the difference enables you to make an informed choice about the purchase of any bag.

A genuine designer bag is made by the original well-known designer (it can also be made by a less known designer obviously but for the sake of this article, the focus is on high-end designers). The bag's logo, charms, attachments, etc., are all part of the original design down to the exact positioning and number of such features. Tags, signatures, or marks stating the designer's name form an integral part of the bag's overall design and authenticity. Price is determined by what the consumer is prepared to pay for a designer label.

A legal knock-off/imitation is "designer-inspired" but is not a direct copy. It might suggest the bag "looks like", "is like", or "is similar in style to", etc. the brand that it's inspired by but won't claim to be an actual Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Hermès, etc. Without close inspection, it can be easy to mistake the additions for the real thing, sometimes causing you to spend too much on it in the belief it's the original designer's bag. However, if you know what to look for, you should be able to spot the differences.

Illegal fake bags put themselves across as being the genuine designer's bag, right down to the very last logo, tag, charms, etc. Fakes copy everything about the designer bag, and pass themselves off as the original brand, with no attempt to distinguish themselves as look-alikes. Prices for fakes can vary considerably from cheap to trying to sell the bag for high amounts. It's illegal to make fake merchandise, and while buying it is not illegal in most countries, doing so supports illegal activity.[1]

Be aware that designer-inspired knock-off bags can carry the blessing of the original high-end designer where adequate compensation has been paid and contracts exchanged allowing for lower-end knock-offs in chain retailers, etc. Usually the store will proudly say something along the lines of "as licensed by X brand for our store".

Be store wise. The best place to purchase a designer bag is to go to a renowned store to purchase a designer bag. Suitable stores include stores carrying the same name as the brand, and quality department or boutique bag stores. The staff should be knowledgeable when questioned about the pedigree, quality, and guarantees concerning the bag.

Assume that any designer bag being sold at a flea market or street vendor is suspect. It would be a rare occasional find to have a cheap designer bag being thrown out at a flea market; it's possible but improbable.

Know all you can about designer bags if you're purchasing from estate sales, thrift stores, online auction sites, etc. Apply the following steps to any purchases of designer bags made at such places.

Ask trusted fashionistas you know where they purchase their designer bags from. They'll be wise to the good stores.

Know the signs of a fake or knockoff bag. There are numerous signs that can point to a bag's lack of authenticity:[4]

The stitching: Look closely at the stitching of the bag. Sloppy, slanted, and uneven stitching is a sign of a poorly made, and therefore, fake bag. Designer bags will always have quality stitching because it is part of the designer's reputation to produce a quality item.

Check the tags or labels. Check the inside tags - are they stamped into leather or hand-stitched? An obvious fake will have no name on the inside tag. Check outside tags as well because many designers include authenticity labels on the outside of the bag.

Check the material. If it's leather, it should smell like leather. If it's supposed to be durable canvas, it should be strong and well stitched. The material can tell you a lot about the bag's quality. If the real bag normally has a pattern inside then the fake bags with mainly have just one colour throughout the inside.

Check the logo. Logos are often a slip-up area for copies. They may have spelled the name slightly differently, such as Carter instead of Cartier. And, the more popular the "knocked off" bag, the greater the need to be careful because it's easy to be taken advantage of. When you look at the stitching on the sides and you see the "LV" it should be continued onto the other side of the bag and this also goes for the other symbols on the bag. And most knockoff Chanel bags have interlocking Os instead of Cs, which actually makes it legal to sell but is, of course, a fake. They snip it to make it look real when it comes out of a dust bag.

Look for a serial number. This is a stamp inside that says the brand (it may not be in all bags).

Check the lining. If the interior sounds like paper rubbing together, then it's not the real thing. A real designer bag will be lined, and often with leather. Again, check the stitching of the lining if relevant, and observe if it is double stitching ( not always the case).

Look for color variations. Although some variations will be blatant, others may be very subtle. Be sure to have a close inspection.

Notice wear break-in. Although this is post-purchase, how your bag wears in can be a sign of its authenticity. For example, the leather on the handle, after a few weeks, should look like a good worn leather jacket does. It should have an "aged look". Stitching should stay intact and not begin to fray. Zipper handles that fall off early on indicate a fake.

Don't confuse a designer bag with making a purchase of value. With a designer bag, you're buying the label as much as the bag and it may not be to your budget's benefit unless money is not an issue. Always check the bag, designer or ordinary brand, for its quality before its style. That way, you'll soon learn that even some designer ranges make compromises that aren't acceptable for the price asked. It hardly makes sense to spend $1000 on a plastic bag with a designer label over a well-made ordinary label leather bag at $200. Investigate and keep your head in charge of your wallet, not your fashion-hijacked heart.

Look for young, up-and-coming designers whose designs show incredible promise but aren't yet fetching huge prices. They may be selling online through a site such as Etsy, on consignment in a quality clothing or gift store, or in a local craft market, etc. Learn how to spot quality and style and support a new designer.

Remember to look at the tags. The tags are a dead giveaway of a knock-off. If the tags don't look hand-stitched, stamped, or even not there, it's not real.

Remember if the leather isn't heavy like leather should be it's not real or poorly made meaning it's not real.

If you can avoid it, don't buy your "designer" bags off the street.

The Juicy symbol is currently "Love G Knockoffs may have "Love P however it could also just mean the bag is a bit older, as Juicy products manufactured prior to 2006 had "Love P check tags on the purse. If there's a typographical error on any tag on the outside or the inside of the purse, it's a fake, for sure.

Most design houses like Louis Vuitton who make bags with their signature logo or monogram have ways to tell if the bag is fake or real. Louis Vuitton's signature "LV" bags are the hardest to detect a fake.

You can take your bag to the store and compare the logos, lining, etc.,and see if your bag is indeed a fake.

If you can return your bag to the vendor,make sure of what amount of time you have until you can't return it. Check if your bag is a fake before you CAN'T return it.

1. Two key questions. If you are interested in becoming an Independent Sales Representative, there are two key questions that you need to ask yourself:

a. Do I have the financial stability to go 2 - 3 months without receiving a commission check? When a principal is looking to outsource their sales functions, they are either looking to enter into other territories or need assistance to service and improve existing client relationships. Question 1 is of particular importance for a new and untapped market. The reality is that there is a sales cycle associated with all products which, most often, span weeks or even months. Principals will rarely pay commissions based on unfulfilled orders. Payment schedules can also typically range from COD up to Net 45 days. Including the time to make the first sale, delivery, payment to principal, and commission check mailed, it can be several months before you receive your first commission check.

b. What Industries Do I Have Experience In? Principals expect prior experience with a certain product range or industry type. This holds true in virtually all industries. To start out successfully, it is important for you to have contacts to make initial presentations. Principals may be willing to give you a line but without experience, it can take a significant amount of time to develop sales.

2. Start Your Business. As an independent rep, you should start your own business (LLC, S-Corp, C-Corp, etc.). There are many advantages ranging from tax benefits to liability protection. It is suggested that you speak with an accountant to determine what the best option is for you. Most accountants or lawyers can help set up the business for you. There are also many online sites that can perform this function (depending on services provided, typical pricing ranges from $100 - $500).

3. Business Plan. Rather than sending out a Resume, principals will be impressed if you have put together a business plan which will detail your goals and objectives. The best thing about being an Independent Sales Rep is that there are only two primary functions: Sales and Customer Service. The principal takes care of all other aspects which include manufacturing, research and development, quotations, invoicing, shipping, and quality control. The business plan doesn't need to be long but should detail simple points such as:

b. Territories Willing to Cover

4. Finding Lines Available. With steps 1 - 3 behind you, your objective now is to find product lines. A few sources include:

a. Trade publications and trade web sites.

c. Use a commercial website such as RepHunter.

5. Landing that Line. After you have identified several lines available, it is important to research the company and get a good understanding of their products and needs. Fundamental needs include the following:

a. Principals are looking for reps to help develop a relationship between themselves and the client. The basic focus is building strong relationships.

b. Principals want their reps to be professional and prepared. For new reps, a marketing plan can really be a big advantage.

c. Principals need to know that you will be giving their products time and that you are prepared to cover the required territory.

d. In the absence of an established revenue stream, principals need to know that you are financially stable. The last thing they want to do is spend time and money over several weeks to wind up having their rep drop them for financial reasons. By conveying your goals to meet these needs, you will stand a better chance of landing that line to represent.

6. The Sales Process We break down sales into two primary functions:

a. Getting Appointments. We consider the process of getting good face to face sales time with a new customer as 50 percent of the sales effort. For many businesses, the purchasing power can fall on one of several positions. In a manufacturing facility, for example, purchasing can be the responsibility of Purchasing, Maintenance, Engineering, Plant Managers, Store Room managers, Inventory Control, Office Managers, etc. One of the hardest things to do in a complex business environment is to get the right people to listen to your presentation.

b. The Sales Pitch. At the start, this is an area where the tools available to you become most valuable. For any new rep, the absolute best resource to help you become successful is to bring in your principal's sales manager. While this method may not be practical for all cases, it should be considered where applicable. Long term, it will be your responsibility to perform sales presentations. For the first few months, however, the principals will be very happy if you can set up sales presentations which will maximize their time and efforts. It serves as an excellent method of training and will show your principal that you have the ability to get to the right people. Having your sales manager make some initial presentations will also help improve closing rates and shrink the overall sales cycle. The other advantage includes credibility.

7. Set up a web site. It's easy and a great way to promote your new business.

8. Keep your new principals happy. The best way is to make sure they know you are actively promoting their products include:

For over twenty-five years, Jeffrey Simon has been professionally active in financial management, information systems management, software development, and project management. Most recently he has been a founder and principal owner of RepHunter, Inc., a successful startup conducting business over the Internet.

During the last two decades he has been employed by GE Capital, and has consulted for clients including American Express, CIGNA, IBM, and Xcel Energy. He has conducted advanced technology training in the international enviroment, including seminars attended by representatives of the U. S. Government, the Canadian government, the British government, NATO, Boeing, DuPont, Exxon, General Electric, Grand Metropolitan, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Monsanto, Siemens, Westinghouse, and numerous other major corporations. His recent interests include the application of artificial intelligence to analysis of the stock market.

Humans have an intimate relationship with electricity, to the point that it's virtually impossible to separate your life from it. Sure, you can flee from the world of crisscrossing power lines and live your life completely off the grid, but even at the loneliest corners of the world, electricity exists. If it's not lighting up the storm clouds overhead or crackling in a static spark at your fingertips, then it's moving through the human nervous system, animating the brain's will in every flourish, breath and unthinking heartbeat.

When the same mysterious force energizes a loved one's touch, a stroke of lightning and a George Foreman Grill, a curious duality ensues: We take electricity for granted one second and gawk at its power the next. More than two and a half centuries have passed since Benjamin Franklin and others proved lightning was a form of electricity, but it's still hard not to flinch when a particularly violent flash lights up the horizon. On the other hand, no one ever waxes poetic over a cell phone charger.

Electricity powers our world and our bodies. Harnessing its energy is both the domain of imagined sorcery and humdrum, everyday life -- from Emperor Palpatine toasting Luke Skywalker, to the simple act of ejecting the "Star Wars" disc from your PC. Despite our familiarity with its effects, many people fail to understand exactly what electricity is -- a ubiquitous form of energy resulting from the motion of charged particles, like electrons. When put to the question, even acclaimed inventor Thomas Edison merely defined it as "a mode of motion" and "a system of vibrations."

In this article, we'll try to provide a less slippery answer. We'll illuminate just what electricity is, where it comes from and how humans bend it to their will.

For our first stop, we'll travel to Greece, where inquisitive ancients puzzled over the same phenomena that zaps you when you touch a metal object after shuffling over the carpet on a cold, dry day.

Prescription muscle relaxants are good in relaxing aching and painful muscles, but they also can be dangerous sometimes due to their side effects. In order to ease muscle pains and not suffer from any drug side effects, some doctors are now recommending herbal muscle relaxers, which homoeopathists and herbologists have been recommending for years.

Types of natural herbs with muscle relaxing properties are:

Vervain: For long this has been used as medicinal herb but its notoriety has diminished as time goes on. Anyway, homoeopathists do believe strongly in its known aspirin medicinal properties to calm inflammation and ease minor aches. It is also used as tonic for calming nerve because it has calming effect, and it is also used as an antidepressant. Vervain is not safe for pregnant women because it has the power to induce abortion.

Horseradish: It is mostly preferred because of its diuretic properties which is very helpful in treating mild health problems; such as cough, bronchitis, sinus problems, urinary tract infection and more. As plant used as muscle pain and spasm reliever, horseradish is often spread on the affected parts of the body as poultice to ease muscle pain.

Lavender and chamomile oil: The very important oil from lavender and chamomile work best when used in aromatherapy for the relaxation of the muscles. Normal massage or aromatherapy with chamomile oil or lavender will calm or relax the strain muscles.

Skullcap: This is used as nerve calming sedative and will alleviate tight muscles from becoming full muscle spasm.

Arnica oil: Rubbing infused armica oil on the surface of the area that is affected will help lessen the muscle ache. To reduce muscle strains, bruise or even sprains, arnica is often used in ointment and liniment preparations.

Caraway leaves: This has very high spasm reducing properties. It is better used for the treatment of colic mostly in children. In many parts of the world, leaves from caraway are chewed for their known medicinal properties.

Herbal muscle relaxer provides immediate and short term relief from muscle aches. It is inexpensive and are always available over-the-counter from most neighbourhood drug stores. Development is often simple and forthright. Some of the herbs can be prepared by either boiling or heating; and are normally pounded when used as poultice.

To make sure that these herbs are always available, people can cultivate their own herbal garden so that that they can have these natural wonders handy. Herbal muscle relaxant is now more renowned and acceptable as powerful alternative to pharmaceutical muscle relaxers due to the fact that it has no known side effects. Many drug companies are now using some natural herbs in making their prescription muscle relaxers.

Even though many drug companies don't use natural herbs in their clinics, they believe that it has strong medicinal benefits. Herbal muscle relaxant does have medicinal properties that might result to adverse effect if the proper dosage guideline is not followed. When cooking up herbal muscle medicines, proper knowledge of combining herbs with traditional drug must be considered, if not you should talk and get advice from health care professional.

Gumpei Yokoi ( occasionally also known in English as Gumpei Yoko or Gunpei Yokoi), born September 10, 1941, was one of the main figures in shaping Nintendo into the company it is today. He was the creator of Metroid and Kid Icarus, the chief designer of the Game Watch and Game Boy and SNES and Virtual Boy (and later the Wonderswan, after leaving Nintendo), and the founder of R a development house at Nintendo until after Mr. Yokoi's departure. (R is mostly notable as the home of Mr. Yokoi's pet projects, but is also notable in that R defectors formed Intelligent Systems, the company that developed Nintendo Wars series, the Fire Emblem series, Tetris Attack, and others.)

Gumpei Yokoi was hired by Nintendo in 1965, long before anyone outside of Japan had ever heard of the company. He was hired for a low-level job, as a maintenence worker on the assembly lines for Nintendo's plastic-covered playing cards, the lucrative market Nintendo had discovered a few years before. He spent several months as the head of a maintenence crew consisting only of himself, to boot.

Eventually, in 1970, he was reassigned to the games division, with instructions to give Nintendo a big hit toy for that Christmas. He gave them the Ultra Hand, an extension hand for grasping. The simple toy, much-duplicated since, sold 1.2 million copies that Christmas. He followed this up with a series of Ultra toys, a love tester, and a light-based shooting game used in shooting galleries (the early inspiration for the Zapper, and the reason there is a clay-shooting game in Duck Hunt), but neither of those really brought him to prominence.

What brought Mr. Yokoi to prominence was when he was assigned to help a newly promoted staff artist find a use for the cabinets and hardware for a failed game called "Radar Scope". That staff artist was named Shigeru Miyamoto, and the game he would create would be named Donkey Kong, the breakout arcade hit for then-unknown Nintendo.

His next success came in 1980 with the Game Watch. The Game Watch LCD games each had a game and a built-in alarm clock, and could easily fit into a pocket. They were an unqualified hit in Japan, and built up a following in the US, as well. For the Game Watch, he concieved the "D-pad," the four-directional cross later used for the NES, since a joystick won't fit on a portable system. This design would be patented by Nintendo, and used in the design of the Famicom's controllers

The Famicom would bring Mr. Yokoi his next successes, as he developed the password system Nintendo would use in several games. Two of these were produced by Mr. Yokoi himself: Metroid and Kid Icarus. The team he formed to create these games was R (R collaborated heavily with Intelligent Systems; only appropriate, as Intelligent Systems was formed largely of R defectors.) With R and Intelligent Systems, he would go on to develop quite a few successful games, including the next two Metroid sequels, Dr. Mario, and Panel de Pon, as well as bombs like the Super Scope 6 and Mario Paint.

While Metroid holds a soft place in many gamers' hearts, Mr. Yokoi's biggest contribution to Nintendo came in 1989. After he grew dissatisfied with the limitation of the Game Watch, he and R began development of a handheld system that used cartridges like the NES's. This would become the Game Boy, and, with the help of a launch title that set the world afire, would go on to become the most successful gaming system ever. Later, Mr. Yokoi also designed the Game Boy Pocket, a slimmer version of the Game Boy.

His next hardware ventures were not so successful. While his failure with the Super Scope 6 was relatively small-scale, it would be the Virtual Boy, in 1995, that would sink his future at Nintendo. The Virtual Boy, a 3-D system that fit over the eyes, got bad press, had bad games, and gave gamers headaches. It didn't even last a year, and less than two dozen games were developed for it. At E3 1995, Gumpei Yokoi and his Virtual Boy were utterly ignored in comparison to the buzz over Nintendo's Nintendo64.

Mr. Yokoi remained a "respected elder" at Nintendo after this, but it was clear that he was seen as disgraced, by both himself and many of his coworkers. He retired from Nintendo in August 1996 to save face, and went on to found his own company. KOTO, his new company, was most notable for the development of the Wonderswan, Bandai's failed competitor to the Game Boy. In fact, their first title for the Wonderswan was titled Gunpey, in his honor.

On October 4, 1997, Mr. Yokoi was killed in a car accident. He and a coworker, Etsuo Kisoo, were in a minor accident, one which involved no injuries. However, while they were examining the damage, he was struck by a third car, driven by a man named Iwao Tsushima. Whle Mr. Kisoo and Mr. Tsushima and his wife survived with relatively minor injuries, Gumpei Yokoi was killed.

His departure from Nintendo and later death can largely be blamed for delaying before a color Game Boy until 1998, a color Wonderswan until 1999, and any Metroid sequels until 2002. The Nintendo Masterpiece Puzzle Collection, released in 2003, was informally dedicated to him, as he directed or produced two of the three games on it.

In his time at Nintendo, he was responsible for.

The founding of R the team that developed almost all of the games he oversaw

The Ultra Hand and the rest of the Ultra series of toys

The light guns for the Laser Clay Ranges (the precursors to the Zapper)

The original Game Watch (he oversaw the entire series until its cancellation)

The Game Boy (and the Game Boy Pocket) and a number of its early in-house titles, including Solar Striker and Balloon Kid

Donkey Kong and Mario Bros. (both in conjunction with Shigeru Miyamoto)

Wrecking Crew and other Vs. Unisystem titles

The Metroid series (until his departure), including Metroid, Metroid II, and Super Metroid

The Super Mario Land series, including Super Mario Land, Super Mario Land 2: Six Golden Coins, Super Mario Land 3: Wario Land, and Wario Land 2

Dr. Mario

Tetris Attack, Mario Paint, Fire Emblem 4, and a number of other Intelligent Systems titles

The Super Scope 6 and the SNES mouse

The Virtual Boy and many of its Nintendo-developed titles, including Mario Tennis

Later, at his own company Koto, he created the Wonderswan for Bandai and a handful of titles for it before his death.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Mix the ingredients for the pretzels in your stand mixer or bread machine like you were making bread. Allow dough to rise for about an hour or about doubled. Divide the dough into equal portions (at least 12). The kids can roll the portions into long ropes and them fashion them into pretzels (whatever shape makes them happy).

Allow the pretzels to rise another 20 minutes or so and if you want that brown, caramelized outer pretzel, start heating your water with the baking soda. You don't want it boiling but you do want hot. If you have a slotted spoon or other supportive kitchen utensil, it's perfect because you can place the pretzel on the spoon and 'cook' it in the water for 30 seconds before removing it and placing on the greased baking sheet. Repeat with all the pretzels.

**You can easily skip the boiling water bath and allow the pretzels to rise and then go to the egg wash and toppings step. The pretzels will bake to a light 'bread' color. **

Then brush the egg wash over the pretzels and sprinkle them with kosher salt, or cinnamon/sugar, maybe a mix of Parmesan cheese and Italian seasonings. Bake the pretzels for about 18 minutes until golden brown. Read our full Terms of Service.

Located in the Great Falls Plaza in Sterling, Virginia, the restaurant Mokomandy features a distinctive combination of Korean and Cajun food. Introducing an exciting new cuisine to local food lovers, Mokomandy has earned recognition in publications including The Washington Post, Washingtonian magazine, Northern Virginia Magazine, and Fairfax Times. The restaurant founder and current President, Thaddeus Kim, developed the unique cuisine based upon his experience as the son of a Korean-American father and a Cajun mother.

The restaurant menu was developed in conjunction with a graduate of The Culinary Institute of America, who currently serves as the Executive Chef. Focusing on ssam plates along with variations on Korean-style barbecue, the main menu at Mokomandy provides an extraordinary variety. Mokomandy offers exciting new dishes while maintaining a culturally authentic foundation of flavors. Choice items have included jambalaya featuring house-made sausage and tasso, BBQ shrimp iceberg salad with Louisiana Italian dressing, snapping turtle gumbo, and a Korean pot roast brimming with fresh vegetables, purple rice, beef, and sweet potato puree.

To complement a small, medium, or large plate, Mokomandy offers an array of side dishes such as fried kale chips, Korean choucroute, yellow squash shitake, and jalape hush puppies. Mokomandy also offers an enticing dessert menu and mixes up a number of signature cocktails. Beyond its highly original cuisine, Mokomandy flourishes as a new restaurant due to its stylish but welcoming ambiance and friendly, courteous staff. Mokomandy founder Thaddeus Kim maintains an active affiliation with the Dulles Regional Chamber of Commerce. While continuing to promote his new restaurant, Thaddeus Kim supports numerous charitable organizations, including the Wounded Warrior Project, Food Friends, and Share Our Strength Taste of the Nation.

I cannot completely agree with the statement that classmates are a more important influence than parents on a child's success in school. In this, I will first focus on the reasons why I agree with this statement and then list a few points why from my opinion in some cases, it is not true.

From one side, classmates have a significant influence on child's behavior and his or her success in school. First of all, children spend much time at school. Classmates have many things in common such as age, interests, homework and classes. So, they discuss their impressions about a new teacher, solve problems together, learn their homework, gain new knowledge and experience and even make their own discoveries. Sharing all these makes them closer. Some of them become friends and they spend after-school time together. In addition friends tend to copy each other's habits and manners. For instance, my little cousin sister became friends with the girl who did not have good grades at school at that time. It does not mean she could not have better grades; she just had many friends who did not care about their grades. So, when they started to spend their time together and share their interests, girl's grades improved. They did their homework together, shared their dreams and exciting moments. From this point I must agree that classmates can change child's attitude towards school.

From the other side, parents too have a great influence on children's success in school. For example if parents show an interest in their child's progress and talk to him or her about the importance of learning I think their child will listen to them and do his or her best.

Personally, I believe that relationships between parents and a child play an essential role in child's success in school. If these relationships are close and wholehearted I am sure that parents should not be afraid of bad influence from outside.