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With the addition of the 5.3-liter, 325-horsepower V8 extended cab(EXT), eight Chevrolet Trailblazer models are on the road in 2005.And as the largest and most powerful Blazer available, the new EXThas plenty to offer.

It’s comfortable and provides a confident drive. It offers vast cargospace, has an attractive two-tone interior, a well-designed consoleand boasts of plenty of impressive option packages.

But sometimes subtle qualities or subtle deficiencies are moreimpressive or problematic than a vehicle’s overt characteristics.

So it is with the new Blazer. While recently showing the car to severalfriends, one sat in the second row of seats. Surprisingly, his headeasily hit the roof. My friend is 6-foot-3, and while that’s tall, he’s not agiant by any stretch.

“I’ve got a Scion and there’s plenty of rear seat headroom,” my friendcommented.

The quick analysis made a good point. As the largest and mostpowerful Blazer available, shouldn’t a 6-foot-3 person sit comfortablyin the middle of the car’s three rows?

Conversely, an SUV hardly seems like a vehicle for a remarkablesound system. But the Bose premium sound system available in theBlazer’s Sun, Sound and Entertainment Package is superior.

Thecombination AM/FM stereo, six-disc changer, XM satellite radio andeight speakers are arguably the finest music package I’veexperienced in any test car in the past two years.

Beyond a curious space limitation and a wondrous sound systemoptions, the Blazer offers an odd mixture. It’s a well-designed SUVwith plenty of space for family and cargo. It has adequate steeringand handling, and it offers a quiet ride considering its status as alarge SUV with 17-inch tires.

Yet, the Blazer falls short in other key areas.

The vehicle’s braking system seems uneven - fine in somecircumstances, soft in other scenarios with far-too-long response time.The Blazer maneuvers well in traffic and its turning radius issurprisingly tight and efficient. But again, for each vehicle strengththere’s a weakness. The Blazer’s fuel rating of 14 mpg (city)and 19 (hwy) is hardly impressive.

Standard features are adequate: power mirrors, heated daytimerunning lamps, remote keyless entry, tinted rear glass, 65/35 secondand third-row folding seats and a rear window defogger, among otherstandard items.

Three options packages, the aforementioned Sun, Sound andEntertainment, as well as the Luxury and V8 Power Play packages,can add nearly $7,000 to the base sticker, pushing the total price tomore than $41,000.

Some options are worthwhile, including the OnStar EmergencySystem (with one year of free service) and leather-appointed seats.Other options – cruise control, leather-wrapped steering wheel andsteering wheel audio controls – are standard for other manufacturers’SUVs.

A Preferred Equipment Savings reduction of $3,150 lowers the top-of-the line Blazer’s price, after a $685 destination charge, to $38,515.

As such, the Blazer isn’t the most expensive or most economical SUVon the market. But certainly, for nearly $40,000, good brakes andsufficient second-row headroom shouldn’t be issues.

2005 Chevrolet Trailblazer

Safety features — Dual-stage driver and front passengerairbags. Antilock brakes.

Fuel Mileage (estimates) — 14 mpg (city), 19 mpg (highway).

Warranty — Bumper to bumper, 3 years/36,000 miles; Powertrain, 3 years/36,000 miles; Corrosion, 6 years/100,000 miles; 24-hourfree roadside assistance, 3 years, 36,000 miles

Base price — $34,270.00

About the Author: James Raia is a Sacramento, Calif., journalist who writes about sports, travel and lifestyle topics as well as the automotive column, The Weekly Driver Review.To read more car reviews or to subscribe to his free electronic newsletters, visit the web site: www.ByJamesRaia.com

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Drive through almost any neighborhood in any city or town ona weekend, and you’re sure to see garage sales scatteredthroughout.

These homeowners are spending their weekend time off makingmoney. The average profit is $600 for a one-weekend garagesale.

It’s time to get your share of the pie. Organization is thekey.

Step one: Check with the local officials to see what thelocal laws and regulations are on operating garage sales inyour area.

Step two: Spend a few weekends going to garage sales inyour area. See what is selling, what people are buying, howthe items are priced, how the sellers advertise. Observehow the sellers display their items. Take notes.

Step three: Clean house and take stock of what you have andwhat it’s time to get rid of. Be sure to pick out at leastone interesting and unusual item to callattention to your sale; some large ticket item you can setup in front of your home during your sale.

If you find older items such as dishes, a painting, an oldflower urn etc. that you feel it’s time to dispose of haveit appraised. You don’t want to sell something for 50 centsonly to find out later it was an antique valued at $500.00.You can be sure there are garage sale shoppers who are onthe lookout for just this kind of treasure.

Step four: Pick a date for your sale.

The best time tohave a garage sale is twice a year in May or September.People will be out shopping for summer items in May andwinter items in September.

Never pick a holiday weekend such as Mother’s Day or LaborDay. Holiday festivities will get the attention of mostpeople.

The best days for your garage sale are Thursday, Friday, andSaturday.

Step five: Advertise, advertise and advertise some more.Place ads in the local newspaper, shopper guides, onbulletin boards and even online. Place signs all over theneighborhood with brightly colored letters, attachedballoons, etc.

Step six: Organize your sale. Put price stickers on youritems. Have a wide variety of clothing and jewelry andarrange them in a rainbow of colors. Make sure jewelry andappliances sparkle! Hang clothing on racks arranged insizes. Imagine that you are opening a retail store and copywhat the stores do.

If you have items that are hard to price and you think theywill not sell, put them in a penny box. And be sure to markthe box “Penny Box” or “All items just 1 cent each”.

Step seven: Timing. Consider starting at 7:00 a.m. insteadof 8:00 or 9:00. And close no later than 6:00 p.m. Andpositively NEVER shut down for the noon hour! There arepeople who work on weekends and will stop on their way to orfrom work and shop during their lunch breaks.

As most customers will have come and gone by 1:00, noon hourbeing the most active, you can start lowering prices after1:00 p.m. On items you think will not sell at all, put themin a box marked “Free”.

And lastly, what doesn’t sell take to the local Good Will orother organization of your choice.

More information available athttp://www.apluswriting.net/garage/garage.htm

About the Author: Marilyn PokorneyFreelance writer of science, nature, animals and theenvironment.Also loves crafts, gardening, and reading.Website: http://www.apluswriting.net

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Real estate investment takes motivation, drive and ambitionon your part if you want to see your hard work turninto a huge profit. If you, yourself don’t have theenthusiasm, chances are, your real estate investment dayswon’t last long or make you much money. But, if you do, thepossibilities are endless and so is your financial gain.So, don’t trust that just the location of the property isgoing to be enough to make you the money you’ve beendreaming of. You need to make sure you spend the time tofind an agent that is excited and motivated to sell homesand that knows how to make you both a lot of money.

Think about it this way: if you hire a real estateinvestment agent that talks down about a property orlocation instead of highlighting its potential or goodpoints, how quickly do you think it’s going to sell? So,make sure your agent is positive and has your bestinterests in mind. Also, don’t be afraid to bargain,negotiate or try to make deals with your real estateinvestment agent because you never know what someone willaccept. It’s always better to try than to always wonder howmuch you could have saved.

If you’re thinking about getting into the type of realestate investment that involves fixer uppers, be careful.Think long and hard before setting yourself up for this kindof project because it is time consuming and sometimescostly.

You have to make sure that your costs in this typeof real estate investment will ultimately be minimalcompared to your gains.

With any venture or business where there can be greatfinancial gain, there is risk. Real estate investment isn’tany sure thing. It can be a way to help you and your familyhave the lifestyle and kind of life you’ve always wanted.Don’t be afraid to take the risk if you’re visionary and cansee the big picture.

Real estate investment can be the vehicle that makesyou a millionaire or, at the very least, allow you to livecomfortably. So, take the time to hire the real estateinvesting agent that knows what he/she is doing and is aknowledgeable and savvy salesperson. You potentially canand will earn quite a profit in real estate investingventures; you just have to make pragmatic, well-thoughtdecisions before you begin.

About the Author: Harold D. Swannson is the webmaster ofFind Hot Investment.

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When you uninstall an item of software, there are generally a number of redundant files left behind to clutter up your hard drive.

Over the course of a year or two they can be using valuable hard drive space that would be better reserved for more important things.

These files are backups that are generated when software is installed, the reason is not important. All that we need to know is that when the software is un-installed they are no longer required.

To remove them and free up drive space is a simple procedure.

If you are using Windows 98 - ME - or 2000.

Click on Start>Search>For files or folders.

Enter your search criteria in this case it is .bak (don’t forget the dot before bak)

Click on the ‘Find now’ button.

When the search is finished you should see a number of .bak files in the results window.

Look carefully for any files marked as ‘Config.bak’ or ‘System.bak’ It is not advisable to erase these files unless you know what you are doing.

It is now safe to erase the remaining files using your right mouse button and ‘Delete’.

If you are using Windows XP.

Click start>search.

Click ‘Documents’

Enter ‘bak’ in the search field.

Click ‘search’.

When the matches appear in the results window, as above look out for ‘Config.bak’ and ‘System.bak’ files. The remainder may be safely deleted.

Don’t be scared of your computer. You are in charge.

All the best. Bob…

About the Author: AUTHOR’S PROFILE. Robert makes a very good living from some of the best affiliate programs on the net.

This is one of his favourites. If you are interested in boosting your mailing list, Take a look. It’s good. It’s very good. http://www.bz9.com/robjfar

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