Initially, I wanted to avoid summarizing Kamui because it's already come out for the American market, but it's hard to ignore something that takes up so much of the magazine each issue. On the other hand, there's a lot going on in each story, making a simple recap almost impossible. Essentially, Kamui is about class struggle, and how those in power fight so hard to maintain control over those below them. Additionally, because the main characters are ninja, they often develop disguises to masquerade as other characters, making them difficult to tell apart as they infiltrate groups from different classes. Then again, part of the action revolves around determining whether a target is a disguised ninja, or the real person themselves.

Red Eye is a rebel ninja that escaped the clan, and had been Kamui's teacher. Kamui's clan wants him to track down and kill Red Eye, but that's not an easy task. At the same time, the local magistrate is trying to keep the villagers under his thumb, in the belief that it's ok for samurai to casually off someone of a lower class. Shousuke, (the real one), is trying to teach villagers how to weave cloth as an alternative to growing rice. The magistrate thinks that Shousuke is trying to lead an insurrection, and is working to have him tracked down and tortured into confessing. The main classes here are: Feudal lords, Samurai, merchants, village heads, commoners, vagrants and criminals. The vagrants have their own leader and social structure and are occasionally forced by the samurai to carry out dirty deeds against the commoners.

In this chapter, Shousuke and his father have been captured but refuse to talk under torture. The magistrate tries different tricks to make the commoners break their silence as well, including ransoming 10 prisoners for 10 gold each (10 gold represents all the rice the peasants can raise in their life times). Realizing that agreeing to pay the ransom could destroy the village, the prisoners commit suicide. In trying to save Shousuke, the vagrants and village heads band together to forge an alibi for him, which the magistrate knows has to be false. Madman Koroku, meanwhile, no longer being helped by the ninja disguised as Shousuke, goes on a random killing spree, taking out samurai sent to kill him. Finally, Guntarou and some of the village heads try to break the spirits of the commoners by having hirelings assault Nana and Akami. But, Shousuke is freed at this point, and his resolve to protect Nana after the assault helps bring the villagers even closer together.

Many of us avoid home improvement projects due to their expense. Granted if you are contemplating a "second-story" addition to your home, or the construction of a new "game-room", then most likely you will need to hire a general contractor to complete this task. However, if you are interested in projects like painting a room, removing acoustic texture from the ceiling (I just did this), installing laminate flooring, wallpaper, landscaping, etc. then you may be able to accomplish the task(s) all on your own, or with minimal assistance.

My Personal Experience

I recently undertook the task of remolding my den and living room areas. I knew what I wanted the final product to be, however I was extremely hesitant to begin the work due to a lack of knowledge, the fear of failure, and/or making damaging, irreparable mistakes. You see, in front of a computer I'm extremely proficient, however with tools and manual labor, I do not have much experience, so naturally I was a bit intimidated.

Two things changed my mind about the whole scenario. I bumped into a long-time friend who was known for his skill with tools and a knack for wood carving. I informed him of my remolding ideas and the underlying fear of the whole task. He laughed and said that what I wanted to do it would not take much in terms of "professional skill" and it would save me about $2,000 in labor costs!

Once he put a price tag on the amount I would be saving, I was immediately intrigued. For me to save $2,000 of my own money, I'll definitely try my hand at these projects. Wouldn't you?

The second influence that helped me take on this task occurred on my first visit to Home Depot (popular hardware store in southern California). I was lucky enough to run into a wonderful, polite, knowledgeable employee who took his time and explained the in's and out's of what I was about to undertake.

One side note, I could not have accomplished what I did without the help of Home Depot. I'm sure other hardware stores have pleasant, knowledgeable staff members also, but since I always went to Home Depot and since I was beginning to learn the locations of the items I needed, I simply stayed with them. Kudos to Home Depot!

Keep in mind that if the store employees are NOT assisting you in a pleasant and courteous manner, LEAVE and don't come back! Don't let their rudeness distract you from your overall goal - that's what's most important, not the personality of an unfriendly person. Go elsewhere if you do not like how they're treating you. Take it from me, someone who had NO IDEA of what he was doing, there will be some employees who will go out of their way to assist you. Once you find someone like this, keep going back to them. That's what I did. I probably went back to my assistant about fifteen times over the three month duration of my project sometimes to buy things, sometimes just to ask a few questions.

Ask For Help When You Need It

There are basically two ways to ask for help - verbally or indirectly. Depending on your personality and how comfortable you are asking "strangers" for help, the verbal method may not be for you.

That's ok! Don't feel bad or downhearted. That's just your personality, nothing to be ashamed of, so don't start thinking you can give up just yet! :-)

Personally, I have no problem talking to anyone about anything. That's just how I am. If you are somewhat similar, then I suggest taking my approach and talking to as many people who have knowledge in what you want to do.

If you would prefer to remain as anonymous as possible, then the Internet and library will be your goldmine of information. The library may be a tad outdated when it comes to the most recent, creative home improvement projects, but check it out just in case. If you do find a book online or at a store that would be perfect for what you need, ask a librarian if they could "purchase this book since your home improvement selections are less than adequate and its important that a library stays atop current trends and events so as not to become obsolete" (or something along those lines ;-)

Also, at Home Depot they have a section of books on literally any home improvement projects you can imagine. They even have chairs where you can sit and read them at your leisure. This would be an excellent starting point for you.

A Look At My Two Biggest Savings

Pergo Style Click-Together Flooring @.49 per square foot X 400 sq ft = $200 Foam Underlay for 400sq ft. = $80 *my biggest saving - found this floor/tile place getting rid of excess stock which was about $4 per foot cheaper than Home Depot! I would've paid in excess of $1600 for this amount)

Sod: St. Augustine @ .59 per square foot: 1500 sq feet *free delivery since purchased through sod.com *second biggest saving - only cost me $885 instead of $2,000+

Handy Tips

Those who are really not concerned about saving money can basically shop anywhere for what they are looking for. However, those of us on a strict budget must put some thought into this if we want our goals to become tangible. For example, when I originally priced Pergo flooring, it was in excess of $4.50 per foot installed. Multiply that by 400 square feet and I have already attained a bill of $1800 (not including tax)!

Immediately I knew this was way out of my budget, but I still wanted to go with a laminate floor. I then started to price locations I found in the yellow pages, Internet, and local PennySaver magazines. I learned that if I were to purchase and install flooring from distributors/wholesalers, I could save more than a thousand dollars! Even better, if I could find a location that had an excess of a particular item in stock, then they would offer this at an unbelievable price (just like the one I found at .49 cents per square foot).

Point is, if you are willing to do a little "digging" and research in order to find the lowest price available on your products, then you will be rewarded BIG TIME (just like I was). However the flip side to that coin, if you are impatient and you want your remodeling to begin tomorrow, then most likely you will have to pay more for what you're looking for. It all depends on both your time and money situations.

Personally, for me, this was not a "must have done in two days" project, so I didn't mind spending two and a half months working on this in my spare time. I did save a ton of money, but it did take me much longer than if a contractor was hired to complete the job. Again, it all depends on your own personal situation. Just keep in mind that saving money on home improvement projects is possible if you are willing to get a little "dirty" :-)

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About the author: Save money on home improvement projects by following the tips outlined in this article. Perfect source of inspiration for those thinking of undertaking small projects at home.