Get rid of unwanted electronics and old clothes this Saturday from 9-12:30

YWCA Lake County and SWALCo (Solid Waste Agency of Lake County) are running a residential textile and electronics collection for Lake County residents this Saturday from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the Village of Lindenhurst Village Hall, 2301 E. Sand Lake Road in Lindenhurst. They are accepting clothing, shoes and linens and your donation is tax deductible! The clothes will be sold in three thrift stores by Charity Clothing Pick Up Service, Inc. and proceeds benefit low-income women, girls and their families in Lake County.

Also accepted for SWALCo Electronic Recycling Drive: Personal computers, monitors, computer drives, keyboards, modems, scanners, printers, PDA organizers, cellular and other phones, televisions, stereos, MP3 players, CD players, DVD players, VCR's, cameras, video games, Fax machines, shredders, microwaves and small household appliances.

Don't miss this opportunity to eliminate clutter in your home and help others. Thanks to the YWCA for all of the great things they do!

Chicago-area home prices show first signs of recovery after three-year slide | Crain's Chicago Business

Chicago-area home prices show first signs of recovery after three-year slide | Crain's Chicago Business

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Read this. Get mad. Get politically active.

From Crain's Chicago Business:

Illinois jobless rate ticks up to 11.5%

By: Monée Fields-White April 15, 2010

(Crain’s) — Unemployment in Illinois edged up in March, holding at a level not seen in almost 27 years.

The jobless rate rose to 11.5% last month on a seasonally adjusted basis, according to figures released by the Illinois Department of Employment Security. That’s up from 11.4% in February. A year ago, the rate stood at 8.6%.

While the unemployment rate in March was the highest since July 1983, the state did record an increase in jobs for a third consecutive month. Last month, employers added 3,000 jobs. The three-month moving average shows a gain of 8,900 jobs.

“Three consecutive months of job growth offers cautious optimism that the effects of this national recession might be softening,” IDES Director Maureen O’Donnell said in a statement.

Still, there were 148,500 fewer people employed in the state during last month compared with the same month in 2009. That’s led by declines in manufacturing and construction.

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Bob Formisano - About.com Home Repair Guide [homerepair.guide@about.com]

This guy's blog is so useful. The most recent post is about troubleshooting garbage disposal repairs, one of my personal favorite things to not have to call a plumber for. Not that I don't like my plumber...he's really cute and very skilled, but he has the annoying habit of charging me for showing up and fixing my life. Garbage disposal problems are particularly expensive, since they invariably happen on holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas when hoards of people are over and the sink is full of potato peelings (lesson: run the disposer often, not all at once, and don't cram it full of potato peelings no matter what you do. This might be the time to start composting.) He's had posts on water heaters, electrical panel boxes and many other mysteries of home maintenance and repair that can illuminate your understanding of your shelter and enable you to keep things going sometimes without calling in a professional. Thanks, Bob!

Daniel Pink's Whole New Mind

Dan Pink wrote the most interesting book, about what's next, and how to get there. Disruptions in the economic order have occurred so often in history, but his "big picture" analysis goes like this: Agriculture revolutionized ancient life, then the industrial revolution and mass production, then computers and knowledge workers, globalization and outsourcing. One damn thing after another, and just when you thought it was safe to go out. The next step in the evolutionary chain of events, according to Pink, is the high-concept and high-touch world of the six senses: Design, Story, Symphony, Empathy, Play, and Meaning. His "Conceptual Age" has human beings doing art, telling stories, engaging in efforts to see the big picture and synthesizing information, relating to others, having fun and finding relevance and transcendence in our work and our world. Written in 2005-06, before the crash of our financial system and the attendant housing crisis and economic downturn, it offers a hopeful spin on the future in the light of Asian outsourcing, abundance of goods and services and automation. I'm only on page 70...more later :)

Wal-Mart exec goes to Wonder! land - Chicago Real Estate Daily

Wal-Mart exec goes to Wonder! land - Chicago Real Estate Daily

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I love "Fine Homebuilding"

If you are looking for advice on how to do just about anything to your home, or what to look for in a professional who is fixing your home, and great design ideas, check out the Taunton Press publication "Fine Homebuilding". You can get it online. Here is a link for how to paint a room like a pro, one of the things you'll need to know if you are spiffing up your home for sale this spring. Good luck and happy painting!

PS check out color trends on:

http://www.pantone.com/pages/pantone/index.aspx
The color of the year for 2010 is turquoise!

http://www.finehomebuilding.com/pages/how-to-paint-a-room/