Homeowners Insurance - Reducing the Risk of Residential Fires

Imag5B4ine a fire alarm sounding every 19.2 seconds, day and night for a year, and you will have an idea of how many fires are reported in the United States every year. According to a study released by the National Fire Protection Association in September 2007, U.S. fire departments responded to 1,642,500 fires in 2006.

The damage caused by these fires was enormous. They killed 3,245 civilians and caused more than $11 billion in property damage. Annual losses due to fires is greater than hurricanes ($5.4 billion), floods ($5.2 billion), and earthquakes ($4.4 billion). The U.S. Fire Administration, a department of the federal government, reports that the indirect costs of fires-such as lost business, lost wages, temporary housing, medical expenses, and psychological damage may be eight to ten times greater than direct costs. The risk of fire loss is the single greatest reason to carry homeowners insurance. In fact, it was the reason homeowners insurance was created.

The first fire insurance was developed by Nicholas Barbon, an English physician, economist, and businessman. After the Great London Fire of 1666, Barbon helped rebuild swaths of London burned when the royal baker, Thomas Farriner, failed to extinguish the his ovens on September 1, 1666. Shortly after midnight on September 2, Farriner's house went up in flames, beginning a conflagration that consumed 13,200 houses. Building on the maritime tradition of insuring sea vessel5B4s, Barbon began to offer fire insurance to homeowners in 1667. In 1680, Barbon founded the first fire brigade in London, a measure adopted to help protect the city and minimize his exposure to risk of loss.

Although the first insurance company in America began operating in Charleston, South Carolina, in 1732, fire insurance became widely adopted thanks to the efforts of Benjamin Franklin. In 1752, the 46-year-old Franklin founded the Philadelphia Contributionship for the Insurance of Houses from Loss by Fire. Franklin's company pioneered the idea of perpetual insurance, a form of fire insurance in which the customer makes a single deposit with the insurer. The insurance company, in turn, agrees to pay for any losses due to fire. Upon cancellation of the policy, the entire original deposit is returned to the consumer. The insurance company makes money and pays claims by earning a return on the deposit funds from many customers.

Following his own edict that "a penny saved is a penny earned," Franklin and his company worked hard to minimize losses. The company pursued stringent risk management strategies, refusing, for example, to insure wooden homes. An accomplished inventor, Franklin developed several fire safety devices, including the lightning rod and an iron furnace stove, known as the Franklin stove.

Efforts to reduce fire risk continue today-with significant success. The National Fire Protection Association reports5B4 that deaths from fires 11.7 percent in 2006. The 3,245 civilian deaths was the fewest since the NFPA began its current survey in 1977. The most dramatic drop was in residential fire deaths, which declined 14.2 percent to 2,620. Overall, residential fire deaths have declined a whopping 57 percent since 1978.

Several factors have driven down the number and severity of residential fires. The number of adults who are smoke cigarettes has declined by 50 percent, from 42 percent in 1965 to 20.8 percent in 2006. The cigarettes themselves have been engineered to burn cooler, reducing ignitions. At the same time, fabrics and mattresses have been designed to resist ignition from cigarettes. The government mandated changes in cigarette lighter design, making it harder for children to ignite a flame. One of the biggest life savers has been residential smoke detectors, first introduced in 1967 and mandated into building codes throughout the country.

To reduce death, injury, and property damage from fire further, the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) calls for five things:

1) More safety education, emphasizing causes of residential fires

2) More home smoke detectors

3) More residential sprinkler systems

4) More fire-resistant products for the home

5) More attention to the fire safety needs of at-risk Americans, such as the old, the very young, and the poor

Great strides have been made in redu5B4cing residential fire fatalities, but fire remains a leading killer. Fortunately, some of the life-saving fixes recommended by the NFPA require very little time or money, such as installing smoke detectors and making sure they are working. You do not have to be a superhero to save a life. Sometimes, all you have to do is install a 9-volt battery.

Bradley Steffens is the author of twenty-one books, coauthor of seven, and editor of the 2004 anthology, The Free Speech Movement. His Censorship was included in the 1997 edition of Best Books for Young Adult Readers and his Giants won the 2005 San Diego Book Award for Best Young Adult & Children's Nonfiction. His latest book is Ibn al-Haytham: First Scientist, the world's first biography of the eleventh-century Arab scholar known in the West as Alhazen.

8d Nails

Flitch Beam Design & Software

Flitch beam design software is a useful tool for architects, engineers, designers, and builders. Flitch beams are a common type of composite construction. Composite construction materials are formed by combining two or more materials in a way that allows them to function as a single component structurally.

Home Addition Planning

Five Deadly Sales Letter Mistakes

To be effective your sales letter must be opened, read, believed and acted upon. In order to do this it must attract attention, warm the interest of the reader, create a desire for your product or service and cause your prospect to take positive action.

An effective sales letter, not surprisingly, achieves the same objectives as an effective salesperson. And just as there are certain mistakes a salesperson wants to be sure to avoid in the selling process, the same holds true for the writer of sales letters.

So today I present Five Deadly Sales Letter Mistakes. Eliminate one or more of the common blunders described here and it's a good bet your response rates will improve.

Deadly Sales Letter Mistake # 1 Writing Your Letter For the Hundreds or Thousands of People You Will Be Mailing It To Instead of One Special Person. One sure way to generate an apathetic response to your sales letter is to write for the group or list of people you will be mailing it to.

Approaching your letter with a crowd mentality instead of focusing in on a single, real, living, breathing prospect will greatly impair the ability of your letter to make a genuine connection with the reader.

The sales letter is the most personal, one-to-one form of advertising there is. As is often said, it's the only form of advertising that begins with the word "dear." So it should read like one person sitting down writing to one other person. And heres a crystal clear example of exactly what I mean by that statement. Its from a letter by the brilliant copywriter and nonpareil advertising man, Maxwell Sackheim:

Thank you very much for having written to me for my latest catalog. A copy is being sent to you in another envelope and should reach you in a day or two.

When my catalog arrives I hope you will give it as friendly a welcome as if I were visiting you myself. Ive tried to put into it just the words I would say to you if you were to come here personally, or if I were to come to your home and spend an evening with you.

Deadly Sales Letter Mistake # 2 Thinking that Your Prospect Wont Read a Long Letter. The key question is, what makes for a long letter? To which the answer is, any letter that is uninteresting is a long letter! Even the one-page letter that many salespeople and amateur marketers arbitrarily limit themselves to can seem long.

For example, a number of years ago Kevin Costner made an interminably boring and bloated movie entitled Waterworld that the critics panned and audiences ignored. On the other hand, Stephen Spielbergs inspiring and unflinching film about the Holocaust, Schindlers List, was more than three hours long and it was a huge critical and financial success.

Heres my point: People read long books, take long trips, and watch long movies and plays. And evidence abounds that people read long letters. But people wont read boring letters, dull letters, obviously self-serving I-me-we-product-oriented letters.

Offer the right product or service at the right price to the right audience and if you have enough to say and say it interestingly enoughyou can make a five-page letter pull a better response than a two page letter.

Deadly Sales Letter Mistake # 3 Being a Slave to the Formal Rules of Correct Grammar. When you were in school, teachers and professors were paid to read your work and they dutifully corrected your writing according to the formal rules of grammar.

In the real world its a different story. When writing a sales letter you want your work to have a conversational readability to it. And in most instances that means writing in an informal style. Because thats how the vast majority of buyers and sellers communicate with one another.

As a result, youll break a number of formal grammatical rules. Youll start sentences with and or but. Instead of complete sentences youll sometimes use a sentence fragment. But thats OK. And every now and then youll dangle a participle or end a sentence with a preposition.

If all of this seems totally against the grain consider this true story. Winston Churchill, a Nobel Prize Winner for literature, was corrected by one of his proofreaders for ending a sentence in a preposition. To which Mr. Churchill replied, That is the type of nonsense up with which I will not put!

Your objective is to generate a lead or advance or close the sale. Not one of your prospects is getting paid to read your letter. This time your grade will be determined by how well people respond.

Deadly Sales Letter Mistake # 4 Giving The Reader a Reason For Not Reading. Beware of the so what reaction of your typical prospect. Simply stated, they dont care about you, they dont care about your product or service and they dont care about your company.

Indifference is the order of the day. So you must grab hold of your5B4 prospects mind with a startling statement, a provocative question; some volley of words that will stir them from their apathy and make them pay attention to your letter.

But capturing the prospects attention will do you no good unless you hold onto it. And you do this by focusing your copy on one or more of the fundamental urges which motivate people fear, exclusivity, greed, guilt, the desire for love, beauty, health, salvation and so on.

Among these you must find or create the symptom or symptoms which your product or service cures. If your letter does not clearly and convincingly articulate your cure you have given your prospect an excellent reason for not reading it.

Deadly Sales Letter Mistake # 5 Not Offering Proof That Your Product or Service Does What You Say It Will Do. Not only is your typical prospect indifferent, in the vast majority of situations he is also highly skeptical. Thats why you always want to offer the reader proof that your product or service will do what you say it will do. This will serve to validate your claims and minimize your prospects skepticism. Most important, it will establish your salesperson the sales letter as a more credible and believable source of information.

The proof you offer up in your sales letter can take several different forms. Here are two forms of proof that I have found to be very effective:

1. Customer 5B4Testimonials A testimonial from a satisfied customer with a well-known, well-respected company is some of the most valuable proof you can offer. But make sure that the testimonial copy speaks to specific and relevant issues and concerns your typical prospect is likely to have.

For example, you sell training services and you know that one of the biggest concerns your prospect has is whether or not the training will produce meaningful, measurable results. So you go through your thick packet of glowing testimonials and find a statement that speaks directly to the prospects concern. This is what it says:

When you compare 6 months of results prior to your training with the 6 months after, we have improved our market share by $2,261,000 and have established numerous new dealer relationships. Thanks to you, we are the only district in our region to experience any type of retail growth."

2. Tell A Success Story As a salesperson you know that stories sell. Thats because, as skeptical as the typical prospect may be, she knows that few people will stoop so low as to fabricate a story.

Like any good story yours has to have some drama to it. And of course the hero of the story is you, your company and your product and/or service. Heres an example of what I mean. Its from a letter I wrote for a broker at a commercial real estate firm and this is exactly how the letter opens:

"They hadB3C accepted our purchase price. But when the building inspection revealed many small details that needed repair their response was, No way, this is an as-is purchase.

"My clients just did not have the time to "lock horns" on this issue. Fortunately, they didn't have to. As their representative it was my job to get them what they wanted.

"I persisted. In phone callafter phone call after phone call. In meetingafter meetingafter meeting. I met with the broker. The property manager. The corporate ownership's management. Their attorneys (ugh!). I persisted. And, I negotiated.

The bottom line? My clients got everything they wanted; every repair they asked for. Some $40,000 worth!"

Stories sell, in person and on paper. They sell because they offer the prospect believable and credible proof that your product or service will do what you say it will do.

Your sales letter is the pen-and-ink embodiment of YOU, the professional marketer or salesperson. So when writing your sales letter think of yourself first and foremost as a salesperson, not a writer. And that means communicating with the prospect in much the same way and selling to him or her using many of the same tools as you would in a face-to-face meeting.

2006 Ernest Nicastro

About the author
Ernest Nicastro, a direct marketing consultant, copywriter and lead-generation specialist, heads up Positive Response, an award-winning marketing firm specializing in B-to-B marketing and lead-generation. He also publishes a free monthly newsletter, AIM For Positive Response. For more information visit http://www.positiveresponse.com. Contact Ernie directly at ENicastro@positiveresponse.com. or by phone at 614.747.2256.

2006 Ernest Nicastro
You may reprint this article online and in print provided the links remain live and the content remains unaltered (including the "About the author" message).

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The Golf Grip - How Hard Should You Hold It?

Keeping a solid and firm golf grip while swinging is critical to your golfing consistency and success. Now there are many different "ideas" on how hard you should grip the golf club, e.g. hold the grip as though you're holding a baby bird OR hold the grip as tight as you would a loaf of bread etc., etc. But the bottom line really is not so much how hard you hold the grip but it's how hard you don't hold it.

What do I mean?

Well in an ideal world you should hold the golf grip just hard enough so it doesn't slip or move around when you swing. Now how hard that is for you or me varies greatly on the strength of our hands.

If you have very strong hands then you may not need to hold the golf grip as hard as, say, I would. So the defining line on how hard to golf grip a club is by how much it moves and here's a great way to determine your golf grip movement.

Line up 6 balls in a row on tees and then start at the first one and hit it and don't alter your golf grip and then hit the next ball and the next one. And if you come to a point when you can't hit the ball because your golf grip is nothing like it should be then you know that your golf grip has slipped when you've swung. If you can't hit the second shot because of your grip movement then you've got a grip slippage problem that needs fixing fast.

The main key to your grip slipping will most probably be due to your top hand moving. So here's a simple exercise you can do to help fix this.

Grip the golf club as normal. But just before you swing place a golf tee between the pad of your left hand and the golf grip. Now this golf tee should be securely in place by the pressure that you're placing on the golf grip with your left hand. Once it is you simply need to swing as normal and keep the tee in place.

Naturally this can only happen if you don't move your top hand grip. And this will happen naturally just by you being aware of the golf tee and trying to keep it in place. Then after some practice with this exercise go back and do the 6 ball exercise and see if you've improved your grip security.

I'm sure you will find you have improved it. So try this and see for yourself.

Nick Bayley is a professional golfer who has discovered just one golf swing fault that could be stopping YOU from ball striking consistency and success. But luckily for you, now you can take a simple 2 minute golf swing test to see if you have this swing fault or not. So don't delay! Go here to take The Golf Swing Test now.

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Back to Basics

Events, ideas, circumstances and situations

All the aspects of my life I have categorized into the different shades of gray I wrap my past history in, are the process of coming undone. I have built myself upon these observations of my life and for the moment I see that for the most part it does not serve me in moving forward.

My life is colorful.

"I forget this, and as the days pass and the memories fade; my life become fragments of moments much like a black and white photograph.

Frozen.

Unchanged.

Colorless.

I forget that I have a choice available to me in every second to re-write my future by allowing myself to re-write my past. In this I dont mean convincing myself that I lived another life other then the one I have experienced thus farinstead allowing myself to experience the life I feel I have somehow missed by discovering that is exists

Here

Now

Today.

I went camping this past weekend with one of my sisters, my brother, my brother in law and my nieces and nephews. I am thirty-three years old and this was the first time since I have been about eight that I have gone on any type of family Vacation.

My parents werent with us, my other sister wasnt able to go due to her cancer treatment and my other brother in law couldnt get the time off to come with us. We were a big mis-mash of odds and endscoming together despite all that was missing to create a new definition

We went back to basicsand in that rebuilt and re-created a new definition of family.

I always felt a bit cheated that I didnt grow up like other people did. My house was not one to bring strangers into; for fear that my Father would have a mental breakdown. My Mother was so absorbed in keeping the fragments of my father together that often she wasnt able to give all of herself us they way I though she was supposed to.

My family did not reflect anything close to the gleaming white toothpaste smile families that decorated the television nightly.

My family was real.

We struggled, we had issues, we had illness, we had near death, we had sorrow, we had anger, we had laughter, we had funwe had all the aspects of what I now understand defines a family.

We had love.

Every member of my family held onto my sanity, carefully not to let go of the last mental strands I hung upon as I rappelled deeper and deeper into my heroin addiction through the years. My family would always race to my aid to help me dig out of the hopeless depression I would find myself buried beneath due to my mental illness.

We all ran to my sisters aid when her picture perfect life, manicured lawn and white picket fence no longer held the pieces of her sanity together. We all took another look at our piece of the family puzzle when my other sister was diagnosed with breast cancer this past November.

I believe the biggest struggle I have in this life is coming to terms with the reality that with all I know, all I think I knowit all really amounts to nothing. The recollections of my life I have hung onto have kept me stuck in the realities I created them out to be.

Colorless.

Unchanging.

Frozen.

Life is not like that. My life is not like that. My life has never been like that.

Yet at times I still lose myself in the beliefs the past is the past and it cannot be undone. One of those faulty beliefs that obviously still resides within me despite the volumes of truth that shatter this belief.

At the end of this weekend as we cleaned upthe kids kept themselves occupied by creating a talent show.

With a picnic table, a CD player and a Hanna Montana CD. They shattered the beliefs I clung to in regards to my past.

My 6 year old niece Madyson.

My 4 year old niece Penelope.

My 5 year old nephew James.

Bopping around awkwardly on top of the picnic table, moving and shaking themselves to the beat the best they could with no sense of rhythm. Screaming, laughing, smiling and singing along with Hanna Montana at the tops of their lungs

"best of both worlds"

Echoing throughout the pine trees that filled the camping area.

We all sat in chairs in front of the picnic table, clapping and cheering them on. My eyes filled with tears at the absolute beauty in the moment realizing how lucky I was.

How blessed I was.

I finally came to understand that those frozen black and white photos of my family I held in my memories had no place in helping me to rebuild the life I choose to live now.

Thats what I missedthats what I could never find. I was so consumed with what my family wasnt I never had the understanding of what my family was.

Ever-changingthe colorful display of our lives wrapped brilliantly in a rainbow of Love.

Fallbrook Kitchen Remodeling

What All Is Involved In Getting A T1 Line?

If you are a potential customer, don't even bother wondering what is behind the curtain. The telecom companies take care of the infrastructure, and you take care of the bill -- that's how it works. It doesn't matter if the "big tan telephone company cabinet" is involved or not -- you just want the service. Sure, it's interesting to know how stuff works, and it would be fun to drive by some box in the middle of some cornfield and know that your electrons are running through it, but it really doesn't matter, right? If the price is too high, you're not buying regardless of how the service is provisioned.

To answer the question, a T1 typically is nothing more than two copper pairs which are converted from analog to digital, with special conditioning (and signal repeaters if the distance requires them). If your location could get two additional regular phone lines, then you could probably get a T1 circuit without additional construction or trenching. If such additional work would be necessary, it's quite possible that you would not be charged for that work. In our industry, special construction costs are identified after the order is placed, and the customer can cancel the order with no penalty if the additional costs are not acceptable. It's not likely that construction costs can be identified prior to an order.

Most responsible internet providers will give you a dedicated internet connection at the full 1.5M speed. There are local "tier 2" providers that will purchase a certain bandwidth from an "upstream" provider, then resell it and oversell it. For instance, "Joe's Telecom" might buy a 45M DS-3 of internet access from AT&T. A DS-3 has enough bandwidth to support 28 T1 circuits. Joe will recognize that not every one of his customers will be using the full 1.5M at all times, so he will sell more than 28 T1 circuits -- this is overselling. So long as he watches his circuit utilization, and orders more bandwidth before the customers start crashing into each other, then all is well. But if he's like Comcast, and severely oversells, then customers' circuit performance will suffer. So you will want to know if your T1 circuit is dedicated access all the way to the internet backbone, or if it goes to Joe's concentrator where it is shared among his customers. If the service you get is from AT&T, Sprint, Verizon Business, Global Crossing, Qwest, Savvis, Internap, Level 3 and a few others, then you're dedicated. If it's from a local provider with a limited service area, it's probably shared bandwidth, and the pricing should be lower than from a dedicated provider. But....the quality defined by a Service Level Agreement (SLA) and QoS (Quality of Service) will also be lower.

Relative to a router, in your quote requests mention that you want "managed" service, which tells telecom companies that you want the T1 router to be included as part of their package. The T1 router is different than a typical "broadband" router one would get at a local electronics shop. T1 routers have built-in CSU/DSU functionality which assists in the synch up of the circuit. Some typical T1 routers are Cisco 1841 and Siemens 5940.

A free quote source highly recommended for fast, quality, personal service can be found at DS3-Bandwidth.com (they can assist with more than simple T1 if needed). Word of advice.....you must provide accurate contact information (installation address, email, phone number) and sufficient detail on your network requirements/application.....otherwise they'll ignore you as a bogus request. If you're serious take advantage of what they offer. If you're not serious.....go elsewhere.

Michael is the owner of FreedomFire Communications....including DS3-Bandwidth.com and Business-VoIP-Solution.com. Michael also authors Broadband Nation where you're always welcome to drop in and catch up on the latest BroadBand news, tips, insights, and ramblings for the masses.

Fallbrook Kitchen Remodeling

Brand Yourself to Enhance Your Image in Networking Circles

You will meet many people while you network. It can be challenging not only for you to remember others but for others to remember you. You need to make yourself stand out in a positive way. You may get lost in the crowd if you dont take this seriously.

Be creative and try several ideas. Some will work better than others. Make sure you put in the appropriate amount of time to work on your image. You want to come across as a professional who cares about the ways others perceive you.

Focus on branding yourself rather than your company. If people think highly of you, they will think highly of your organization. As you move from company to company, you want people to remember you more than they remember your company.

Personalize Your Communication

Use a personal e-mail address that will serve as a permanent e-mail. One solution is to buy your own domain name for your last name or a combination of your first and last names. You can have this e-mail forwarded to whatever e-mail system you are using at work.

As an alternative, use an e-mail address created by services such as Yahoo! or Hotmail. Whatever e-mail you decide to use, make sure its easy for people to remember and make sure its professional.

By using a personal e-mail address, people will always be able to contact you no matter where you work. It can be difficult to let people know every time you change jobs.

Take it a step further and create a personal Web site using your own domain name. Not only should you brand yourself on this site with your qualifications and skills but also offer some valuable content. Try to make your site a resource for others in your industry or those who have a similar interest to you.

Create personalized note cards with your name (and e-mail address if you want to reinforce how to contact you). A stationary store can create these for you. This could include matching envelopes with your address.

These cards can be used to send handwritten notes to people for a number of reasons (such as a thank you for a job interview or business lead). You can also use these cards as a follow up after meeting someone at a networking event.

Personalized note cards will make you stand out because most people send e-mails or form letters. By taking the time to handwrite a note, it will show that you have made an effort to write a meaningful message.

Become a Subject Expert

Another great way for people to remember you is if you become a subject expert.

By showing your expertise on a certain topic, you will become a resource for others. When people start coming to you for resources and advice, you will know that you have done a good job of branding yourself. If people dont think highly of you, they wont use you as a resource or refer others to you.

One way to brand yourself as a subject expert is to create a Web site, which provides resources about your subject of interest. You need to let people know about this site by telling them when you meet them, handing out special business cards or mentioning it in some of the local list servs.

Your own electronic newsletter also helps. Your e-newsletter should focus on providing valuable content such as industry resources, articles, events and links. Try to personalize the newsletter by including original content such as tips, advice and articles.

Whenever you meet people, ask them if they want to be signed up for your newsletter. At the same time, make sure to have a sign-up box on your site so people can sign themselves up. Send out the newsletter regularly (either weekly, biweekly or monthly).

You want people to remember you. Stay in front of them.

Write regular articles for a local publication to show that you have expertise about a certain topic. Because it may take some time for a publication to accept your articles, be persistent and convince them that youre an expert. Tell them about your expertise and what you have already done (such as your Web site and newsletter).

Produce your own events to share your knowledge with people.

It doesnt matter what type of event you hold so long as you provide some value to attendees.

Final Thought

Its important that you pay attention to your personal image when you are networking.

Your firms image is important, too, but you need to make people remember you for the long term. Take the time and effort to develop your own brand. Because youre the first point of contact for people when you meet them, make sure to make yourself memorable.

Jason Jacobsohn is a seasoned networker who believes in relationship building as a key component to business success. He enjoys helping others succeed by making introductions, planning events, and sharing resources. In addition, Jacobsohn enthusiastically shares resources with his network through his e-mail newsletter, Network Your Way to Success, and http://www.jacobsohn.com, a comprehensive business and networking resources Web site. Further, he shares an additional perspective through his blog at http://www.networkinginsight.com

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Collage Of Ceramics

How To Improve Your Health In 14 Days: Small Changes For Maximum Health & Weight Loss

Many Americans include health improvement in their New Years Resolutions. But real life intrudes, and we find ourselves facing the fact that our plans for reshaping our lives and health were a bit too much to manage in the face of the rest of our busy lives. However, small changes can be as effective as large ones - much less intimidating - and result in long-term improvements in your health.

Here are two weeks worth of small changes and activities that can improve your health. While these are written with people in an office in mind, they can be adapted to outdoor work or full-time parenting.

Day 1: Identify your Junk-Food-Hour. Put an index card in wallet or purse. Keep track of times at which youre most likely to hit the candy machine or potato chip stash, that one thing that frustrates your good eating habits. For many of us, its mid-afternoon, though it may be at 1 a.m.! Track yourself for a week.

Day 2: Have a Green Day. Whether you buy lunch out or make it, see if you can include a green veggie each day. If youve got kids, they can have fun picking out new green food (nope, green gelatin doesnt count!)

Day 3: Exercise Nibble. Take five minutes of your lunch break to walk. Walk two and a half minutes towards any place (up the street? up the stairs?) and then take the other two and a half minutes getting back. Got kids? Make it a small family ritual and start their good habits early!

Day 4: Sneaky Exercise. Sneak in exercise while you watch TV! Every time theres a commercial, stand up and march in place until the commercials over. If you only watch public TV? Pick a word that characters or announcers are likely to say and march in place for two minutes.

Day 5: Start the Smoke-Out. If you smoke, pick up your phone, today, and make an appointment with your healthcare provider to set up a quitting plan. Alternatively, call the National Quitline at 1-800-784-8669, or check out the webpage put out by the Surgeon General (http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/tobacco/conspack.html) for the booklet You can quit smoking in both English and Spanish.

Day 6: De-stress the Drive. At each red light or stop sign, take a slow deep breath, counting to five as you inhale, count to five as you exhale. This simple habit makes sure youve really stopped at a STOP sign , and reducing your stress can keep you focused to prevent an accident.

Day 7: Junk Food Begone! Use your index-card record to figure out when youre most vulnerable to a junk-food attack. Put some healthy alternatives (depending on your nutritional needs, this may be whole wheat crackers, dried fruit, nuts) in a bag at your desk or in your purse. Five minutes before your tough time, check to make sure that youre hungry. If youre just bored, take a short walk (even up the stairs, wash your face, or reapply lipstick). If youre hungry and losing energy, make use of the stash of healthy food youve created.

Day 8: Check the Pressure. Stop at the drug store and use the automated blood pressure machine. High? Time to see your healthcare provider. Low? Check back each month.

Day 9: Life-Saving Self-Exam. For women of all ages: Pick a date and circle it on your calendar in pink. Repeat for the rest of the year. If you menstruate, make sure the dates are unlikely to coincide with PMS. Each pink day, do a self-breast exam. Dont know how? Go to www.bigbam.org to download a how-to card.

Day 10: Medication Weed-Out. Set a timer for 30 minutes and tackle the bathroom cupboards. Medication that are expired? Vitamins that have been sitting there for years? Get rid of them. Make sure that you dont flush these medications; your pharmacy or sanitation company can help you discard these items safely. If it takes more than 30 minutes, repeat on Day 11.

Day 12:. Sleep hygiene. Cleaning up your sleep habits to reduce interrupted or difficult sleep. Things that can help you sleep well: cutting down alcohol or caffeine before bed, not watching TV or looking at the computer for a half hour before bed (the bright light in your eyes can trigger wakefulness)

Day 13: Measure Me! If youre engaged in weight loss, put a tape measure by the scale. Waist measurements are a good indicator that exercise and diet are improving your health (below 35 inches is associated with lower heart-disease risk).

Day 14: Housework Works. Pick one physical chore that you pay someone to do - mowing the lawn, raking the yard, vacuuming. Do it yourself, and stash the cash. Reward yourself with a healthy, stress-reducing, or dont I look great! treat.

They seem like small steps, but small steps can add up to a marathon of good health!

Gaesser, G.A. Multiple Short-Bouts of Exercise: Fitness Alternative for Those Who "Don't Have Time For Exercise." (Continuing Professional Education article) SCAN's Pulse (Sports, Cardiovascular, and Wellness Nutritionists),Volume 20, issue 3-4, 2001.

Proper, K.I. Effect of individual counseling on physical activity fitness and health: a randomized controlled trial in a workplace setting. Am J Prev Med - 01-APR-2003; 24(3): 218-26

USDA, 2005 Dietary Guidelines Dietary Guidelines for Americans: Nutrition and your Health

Ian Mason, owner of Shoppe.MD, your source for Online Prescription Medications and health news.

Ian studies health, weight loss, exercise, and several martial arts; maintaining several websites in an effort to help provide up-to-date and helpful information for other who share his interests in health of body and mind.

Contact Ian Mason by e-mail at ian@shoppe.md.

Bathroom Sinks And Lavatories
Bathroom Toilets

The Different Uses Of Fitness Equipment

When it comes to exercise and achieving the individual fitness goals that we set for ourselves, often we need more fitness equipment than just our own body. Increasing fitness levels and achieving overall health, requires a commitment to a regimented eating and exercise program that will result in the shedding of fat and building of muscle. But in order to achieve these goals we must first identify the type of exercise that is likely to mean success for our particular body and the type of fitness equipment that will help us do it.

For cardiovascular exercise - the fitness equipment depends on the type of exercise you choose. Runners - and walkers for that matter - require a good pair of shoes as their exercise equipment. Proper shoes can never been underestimated; they will further fitness goals and prevent injury. Whether running or walking, pounding on pavement can put an enormous amount of stress on knees, ankles, feet, and even back. High quality shoes can absorb the shock and make this fitness experience a much more pleasant one.

Other fitness equipment corresponds to other cardiovascular exercise - kickboxing often requires a punching bag; boot camp programs may require a medicine ball; and a high-energy step class will require a sturdy step on which to perform your exercises. For those who prefer to get their exercise by machine, fitness equipment may include the treadmill, stair climber, stationery bicycle, and elliptical machine.

But of course, fitness equipment extends to other forms of exercise as well. Weight training requires a variety of weights - both machine and free weights. Core training - such as yoga and Pilates - requires mats as a part of fitness equipment.

Fitness equipment does not have to be high-end expensive pieces of machinery. Optimum physical fitness can be achieved in the comfort of your home by simply utilizing every day objects around the house in order to supplement your exercise routine. Do dips on a kitchen chair, squats against a wall, or sprints on your stairs - exercise doesnt have to be confined to a gym. As a matter of fact, many people consider their exercise videos to be the most important piece of fitness equipment that they have.

Fitness equipment can maximize your workout and go a long way towards helping you achieve your fitness goals. Keep your choices in fitness equipment creative - youll soon discover that exercise can be quiet enjoyable.

For easy to understand, in depth information about fitness equipment visit our ezGuide 2 Fitness.

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House Mold Problems

Solar Panels - The Power of the Future is Now Here

Solar panels are basically a panel that uses the sun's energy to produce electricity. Solar panels harvest sunlight and convert it to electricity that can power lights and appliances just the ones that you use in your house. Solar Cells, or photovoltaic cells, are arranged in a grid-like pattern on the surface of the solar panel. These solar voltaic cells collect sunlight during the daylight hours and covert it into electricity. Solar panels in the past have been mostly with silicon, which is used in computers as well. More recently solar panels have used other materials and metals because the cost of silicon is starting to rise as competetion for this precious material is becoming fierce while supply is not increasing.

And still other solar panels are made with a different kind of silicon alloy in a rolling process. The solar cells created in this way can be more strong, produce more watts of electricity, and they are thinner which makes them weigh less. This can be very important for applications like solar cars. Finally, NASA and other goverment sponsored space programs use a very expensive solar panel made from gallium arsenide via a sophisticated and expensive procedure. Solar cells made this way produce alot of electricity for their size and weight, but they are much too expensive for anyone other than the government to buy.

Lately, a whole new type of solar panel is being made from plastic which are promising because they are much cheaper to produce. I'll be writing more on this as more is made available to the public about them. However, for now allow me to dream about the different ways this could be used. Suppose you want to power your laptop in a remote location, or use a GPS device while backpacking in the wilderness for an extended period of time. These plastic solar panels could power just about any appliance that you use in your home out in a remote location.

The amount of power solar panels produce is determined by the quality of the solar panel and the materials and technology used in making the solar panel. When buying solar panels, most people expect to pay about 4 or 5 dollars a watt. The price will slowly, but surely come down in price over time. More and more companies are starting to research and develop solar panels with exciting new discoveries and developments that are starting to shine light on the solar panel industry. If you pay attention to the stock market you will notice that there are many publically traded solar panel based companies now that you can invest in. To name a few there is Daystar DSTI, XSunX XSNX, WorldWater WWAT.

Currently, solar panels are very popular in remote locations and recreation vehicles, but this is changing. Solar Panels are now becoming popular in urban areas where clean energy advocates and law makers are creating incentives for this clean, safe, and quiet alnernative energy source. I can imagine a day where housetops will all be covered with mini powerplants in the form of solar panels. This will be a great and beautiful thing for a number of reasons. This will put power in the hands of the individual property owner. No longer will you be at the mercy of the power company to raise rates on you. Even if you don't choose to put solar panels on your house to zero your electricity bill, you will also benefit. Power companies will have to lower their rates due to the increased competetion from the home based mini solar panel powerplant. This will be good for national security and protect us from terrorists. If solar panels don't take off and replace nuclear power, our planet will become an easy target for terrorist who will then have thousands of nuclear power plants to target for their next attack. Also, we will be stuck with an untold amount of radioactive waste to dispose of. And, nobody wants this stuff stored in their backyard or even anywhere in their state. It reduces property value and creates anxiety over possible messy leaks and exposure.

There is much more to be written about this subject, so please visit my website for more information about solar panels: http://www.solarpanel.be

Noah Stephens is an expert on photovoltaic solar panels. Visit his website http://www.solarpanel.be

Exterior Garage Lights

A Guide to Biotechnology

Biotechnology is basically recreation and reinvention of nature. It deals with the manipulation of living organisms in order to make or improve products, enhance plants and animals or generate microorganisms to make human life and the environment better.

In a modern definition, it is related to the genetic information of living organisms, called DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid). Biotechnology explains and supports the transformation of these so-called nature's codes. They are decoded through modification of its sequences; encoded through addition of new sequences or the erasure of particular genes. In these ways, the characteristics or features of the organisms are changed.

Its application achieves many benefits for humans and the environment. It has a relative number of functions for food and agriculture, as well as medicine. An example is the identification and treatment of genetic illnesses, as well as the production of vaccines for diseases. Antibiotics are also considered products of biotechnology. Artificial insemination and in vitro fertilization (IVF) are also forms of biotech practice.

Another example is the development of breeding and cloning animals. as well as cloning in animals. After cloning Dolly the sheep in 1996, proponents of the technology claimed that livestock cloning provided consumers with high quality products. In a later study, a research team was able to produce pigs that have Omega-3 fatty acids. These fats are known to be healthy fats, and help the heart work properly, thus reducing the risk of heart diseases.

With any research breakthroughs come risks along with benefits. That is why these genetically modified (GM) organisms are evaluated before made available to the public. One consideration is whether they promote the organism's existence or disturbs the equilibrium of the ecosystem. The practice is being questioned in connection with ethical and religious implications. Fortunately, there are regulations set by authorities that vary from country to country. Its uses and products should always be safe for human beings and the.

Biotechnology provides detailed information on Biotechnology, Biotechnology Market, Biotechnology Careers, Biotechnology Schools and more. Biotechnology is affiliated with Forensic Science Colleges.

Fallbrook Kitchen Remodeling

Why Team Building Activities are So Important?

Team building activities are one of the most important keys for the success of your company. The more precious time coworkers spend together, the faster it is for your industry. Corporate team building games are that make this possible- and if you do not have cohesive employees, you are seriously handicapping your industry out in the marketplace.

According to team building experts, office team building games are needed as much as success, since friendliness and kindness are feeling easily and deeply transmitted to others, that is, your customers, that really appreciate a warm service. Building solid and cooperative work teams is difficult at first but necessary to have a group eager to share their points of view and to work together in a way that promotes very good qualities of each employees participant. In other words - to accomplish its goals such as a employees.

Getting your workers to stop thinking of every other such as competitors and begin working such as a staff is not absolutely like effective like it sounds, however it is important if you want to be a effective force in your company. Amidst the advantages of staff property are the online video presentation:

Teams become much more used in implementing their own team building activities indoor. Inasmuch as you can split the accomplish its goals into responsibility spaces, a team could tackle pretty difficult projects much more clearly than a group of individuals.

Teams become visible with quite creative solutions due to they would network and brainstorm. By the time staff members jump ideas off about any company issue, they arrive at solutions that none can use evolved all by herself. So as long as team continue to accomplish their goals together, so many of them get that their person function benefits from their brand-new dexterity to see things from other new perspectives.

Teams are pretty enduring than reliance on individuals. If you utilize single person who is responsible since a plan, the loss of that human being might cripple the plan. By the time you are trusting on employees, the loss of only person may be tough; though the fulfillment of the expectations of the team will continue.

Teambuilding exercises for meetings compel your workers to deliver their topmost hard time on behalf of the staff

Find more team building activities on our site at: http://www.team-building-activities.info-a1.com/

Fallbrook Kitchen Remodeling

Why Team Building Activities are So Important?

Team building activities are one of the most important keys for the success of your company. The more precious time coworkers spend together, the faster it is for your industry. Corporate team building games are that make this possible- and if you do not have cohesive employees, you are seriously handicapping your industry out in the marketplace.

According to team building experts, office team building games are needed as much as success, since friendliness and kindness are feeling easily and deeply transmitted to others, that is, your customers, that really appreciate a warm service. Building solid and cooperative work teams is difficult at first but necessary to have a group eager to share their points of view and to work together in a way that promotes very good qualities of each employees participant. In other words - to accomplish its goals such as a employees.

Getting your workers to stop thinking of every other such as competitors and begin working such as a staff is not absolutely like effective like it sounds, however it is important if you want to be a effective force in your company. Amidst the advantages of staff property are the online video presentation:

Teams become much more used in implementing their own team building activities indoor. Inasmuch as you can split the accomplish its goals into responsibility spaces, a team could tackle pretty difficult projects much more clearly than a group of individuals.

Teams become visible with quite creative solutions due to they would network and brainstorm. By the time staff members jump ideas off about any company issue, they arrive at solutions that none can use evolved all by herself. So as long as team continue to accomplish their goals together, so many of them get that their person function benefits from their brand-new dexterity to see things from other new perspectives.

Teams are pretty enduring than reliance on individuals. If you utilize single person who is responsible since a plan, the loss of that human being might cripple the plan. By the time you are trusting on employees, the loss of only person may be tough; though the fulfillment of the expectations of the team will continue.

Teambuilding exercises for meetings compel your workers to deliver their topmost hard time on behalf of the staff

Find more team building activities on our site at: http://www.team-building-activities.info-a1.com/

Fallbrook Kitchen Remodeling

Examining Careers in Engineering

Many individuals find the career of engineering a very enticing option. One of the main reasons for such a wide level of interest in careers in engineering is due to the fact that there are so many job options within this particular field. In this article, we will examine careers in this area. We will take a look at some of the job opportunities available, briefly touch on the education that is required to obtain these jobs, as well as look at some companies where this type of career can be pursued.

Types of Engineering Jobs

There are numerous types of engineering jobs. Engineering careers can be anything from dealing with computers to various types of mechanics. Here, we will review the type of engineering positions that are available. Please keep in mind that this list outlines the most common and popular careers that can be pursued in this industry.

Chemical Engineer - Those who pursue this type of engineering career will work closely with an assortment of materials that are considered "raw" or a variety of chemicals. They will implement the use of various classifications of mathematics, science, and even economics in order to ensure that these materials are developed into forms that can prove to be more useful for the general population.

The newly created materials may also be used to create items for the automotive industry, medical field, military, and electronic field. When studying to become a chemical engineer, most individuals must place a heavy emphasis on various science courses, mathematics courses that focus on physics and higher forms of mathematic equations, as well as courses that are specific to the industry in which they serve. Most of these positions pay at least $20,000.00 to well over $100,000.00 annually.

Civil Engineer - This particular type of engineer focuses on developing a wide assortment of plans related to the design of many different public construction projects. This individual is responsible for supervising these projects as well. These projects are normally related to drainage systems in a community, road structures, and bridge construction.

Individuals who pursue this particular career are normally required to acquire at least a four year degree in civil engineering. The educational focus is normally on courses that are directly related to various types of math, physics, and project management. There are many entry-level positions in this particular field that require no college education, however, these positions normally pay only minimum wage and are described as labor positions. Upper wage levels are around $75,000.00 per year.

Electrical Engineer - An individual who pursues a career in this type of engineering is responsible for designing new electronic devices and gadgets. The employee compensation for this particular career ranges from around $47,000.00 to as much as $109,000.00 annually. However, it is important to understand that if you want to pursue this type of engineering job that you have a college degree that focuses on engineering. Coursework should include a heavy focus on science, social studies, math, and English.

Industrial Engineering - There are generally two different types of industrial engineers. The first type is responsible for supervising individuals that conduct technical product work. The second type is a professional who is trained in the area of industrial and/or systems engineering.

It is essential that this particular individual has been trained and is sufficient in various types of math courses and science courses; particularly social sciences and physical science. Many individuals may also take courses that are designed to teach them how to appropriately manage individuals in the workplace. These positions normally pay up to $100,000.00 annually.

Computer Engineer - These individuals focus heavily on computer science. They may assist in the development of many hardware components and software programs. This position has also been referred to as "electronic engineering". These components may be designed for the military field, medical profession, automotive industry, and any other type of electronic or computer related field.

Numerous courses should be taken in order to appropriately perform this job. The most basic coursework should include a good understanding of computers, electronics, and programming fundamentals. The pay range for this particular career normally ranges from as little as $9.00 per hour to as much as $45.00 per hour. However, the pay is often related to the needs of the position in relation to the area in which they person is located.

As you can see, there are numerous engineering jobs that an individual may pursue. Other types of engineering jobs include mechanical engineering, manufacturing engineering, and more. If you are interested in obtaining an engineering job in the United States or Canada, there are many companies that may provide you with employment opportunities. They are as follows:

1. QuestAir Technologies Inc. - Canada
2. Georgia Pacific - United States
3. Enbridge Energy Company, Inc. - United States
4. AMEC Earth & Environmental - Canada
5. Magnetika - United States

Seek4Jobs.net has employment and job informations.

House Mold Problems

The Mass of Mission Furniture: DIY Rally 2007, Part 12

When Dusty Jerzak and his partner bought a turn-of-the-century home, they got a contractor's special-a former hangout for crack addicts, with missing windows and rotting pipes. In addition to rehabbing the house, they started building furniture. They never stopped.

There are several ways you can get a lot for your new home. Most of these methods don't require you to buy a vacant lot that's already been subdivided. For instance, you could purchase:

1. A portion of someone's property. Once you had a signed purchase contract with the owner, you'd have to subdivide the land off from their property before you could take title to the lot. But finding a property owner willing to sell you a portion of their land could be difficult, and getting the land at a reasonable price might be even tougher. Your offer should specify that you would be responsible for paying the costs associated with the subdivision because then you'd have more control over the work being done, time frames, and the expenses charged.

2. An existing house on its lot. You would demolish the house and then build new. However, what you don't want to do is overpay for improvements (i.e., existing house) that are going to be torn down. Since your offer price for the property should take into account the cost of demotion, you should get estimates for removal of the existing house before submitting your offer.

3. A land parcel (vacant or not). The parcel would have to have enough frontage and area to produce 2 or 3 separate lots with all of the lots fronting on the existing street. The objective is to avoid construction of a new street. You want to create a "turn-key" scenario: subdivide the original property, record the plan, and sell off whatever lots you don't keep for your new home. With the lots fronting on the existing street, your target market wouldn't be limited to builders. It could also include people interested in buying just one lot for either investment or the future construction of their homes. If the original parcel included an existing house, so much the better, as long as the house had some value and its location within the land parcel wouldn't mess up an efficient subdivision of the entire property.

The following examples illustrate the difference in land cost between buying one lot and buying a parcel that could be subdivided.

Example A: 2 acre vacant land parcel zoned for single-family detached housing on 30,000 sq. ft. lots; public water and sewer; asking price is $200,000; assumed yield: 2 lots

Your cost for the property is reduced by the price that you can get in selling off the second lot. So, for instance, if you sell the second lot for $150,000, your total cost for the land portion of your new home project is $50,000 (plus subdivision expenses).

Purchase price: $200,000 ($100,000 per lot)
Less sale of second lot: $150,000
Effective land cost: $50,000 (plus subdivision expenses)
Gross savings: $150,000

Example B: 2 acre parcel zoned for single-family detached housing on 30,000 sq. ft. lots; public water and sewer; the existing house on a lot is worth $250,000; asking price is $300,000; assumed yield: 1 building lot + existing house on its own lot

Purchase price: $300,000 ($150,000 per lot)
Less sale of existing house on its lot: $250,000
Effective land cost: $50,000 (plus subdivision expenses)
Gross savings: $250,000

Example C: 2 acre vacant land parcel zoned for single-family detached housing on 80,000 sq. ft. lots (cannot be further subdivided); public water and sewer; asking price is $200,000

Your land cost is the highest in Example C ($200,000) because you're buying one vacant lot that can't be subdivided. The subdivision necessary in the other examples isn't going to run $150,000-250,000 (the amount of your gross savings). To get a good idea of what the expense would be, contact civil engineers in your area. Ask them what they'd charge to do a small (2 or 3 parcel residential subdivision). This type of subdivision may be considered by some municipalities as a "simple" or "minor" subdivision based on the total number of lots and the fact that no new street would have to be constructed. Make sure you consult a real estate attorney for advice and to see that your purchase contract covers your flank.

Nancy Chadwick is a PA licensed real estate Broker and Instructor specializing in land brokerage, consulting and development. See how she's removing the mystery about investing in land through books (Land Buying & Selling and Selling Land: The Owner's Guide), articles and more by going to http://www.LandBuyingandSelling.com/

The Demand for Web Design Schools

It's no secret that the Web is where the work is. Anyone and everyone wants a Web site, and those with Web design degrees can make that happen. That's because Web designers are the ones who determine and develop the look and feel for sites, and they're responsible for site navigation design and visual execution. Ready to point and click your way to an in-demand career through Web design schools?

Learn
Before you upload your resume, realize that a bachelor's degree is required for most entry-level and advanced design positions. That's where Web design schools come in.

The National Association of Schools of Art and Design accredits about 250 schools with programs in art and design. These accredited Web design degrees equip you with the design, e-commerce, scripting, and authoring skills necessary to advance in the field. You'll learn how to develop cutting-edge Web sites that blend interactive media with consumer-targeted information. You'll explore the nuts and bolts of Web page design using HTML scripting as well as page edit software, Web graphics and animation, video production for Web, and JavaScript. Web design colleges may also provide the opportunity to study the various site design models used in personal, commercial, and government Web sites, and to try your hand at designing your own Web pages and sites.

Once you've completed your Web design courses, the learning doesn't end. You'll need to keep your training up-to-date with certifications such as Certified Web Designer, Dreamweaver 8 Developer, Flash MX 2004 Designer, and ColdFusion MX 7 Developer, to name a few.

Yearn
Of course, all these Web design courses will be worth your while. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, graphic designers with Web site design and animation experience will especially be needed as demand for interactive media projects increase. Demand for graphic designers will also increase as advertising firms create Web marketing and promotional materials for more products and services. It's no surprise, then, that those with design and animation experience from Web design schools will have the best job opportunities in the field.

Earn
Not only is the need great, the compensation isn't too shabby, either. According to the 2006 AIGA/Aquent Survey of Design Salaries, the median total cash compensation for Web designers in 2006 was $48,000. Boston, Washington/Baltimore, and Los Angeles reportedly paid the top salaries for Web designers, and educational institutions, design studios/consultancies, and Web development firms were the organization types topping the wage chart.

Get in on the online explosion and explore Web design colleges today.

To find college and career schools near you, surf http://www.CollegeSurfing.com.

Copyright 2007
The CollegeBound Network
All Rights Reserved

Robyn Tellefsen is a frequent contributor to The CollegeBound Network. Learn more about finding a school or career that's right for you!

Fallbrook Kitchen Remodeling

Golf Laser Rangefinder Product Comparion - Bushnell vs. Callaway Nikon

Bushnell PinSeeker 1500 with slope

Bushnell has a 90% share of the market in golf rangefinders and with good reason - the quality and accuracy of their products is well known.

Released in 2006, the PinSeeker 1500 w/slope takes virtually all of the guesswork out of the game of golf. In the slope mode, this rangefinder will not only tell you the distance to an object, but how your shot will play.

For example, if you are on a 150 yard par three and it is uphill, this rangefinder will tell you, "Hey, it's 150 yards to the green, but since it is uphill, it is going to play more like 165 - so use more club, you dummy!" Well, the slope won't insult you like that, but you get the picture!

With several scan modes and fully, multi coated optics, you will easily be able to judge the distance to any object on the course - at a range of to 1,500 yards (that is almost a mile - enough power even for John Daly!). The only downfall of the slope version is that is not legal for USGA tournament play.

Bushnell PinSeeker 1500 Tournament Edition

This is the rangefinder that 90% of PGA Tour Pro's use. The reason why? This version is legal for tournament play and is still the best rangefinder on the market for it's price.

It features several scan modes, multi coated optics, and a 1,500 yard range. The only difference between the tournament and slope version is that the tournament edition does not have slope (and thus is legal for tournament play.

Bushnell PinSeeker Medalist

The Medalist is new for 2007 and is also legal for tournament play. It employs the same PinSeeker technology as the 1500 for better shot making and course management on any course, to virtually any object anywhere, any time of day. We prefer the Medalist over the 1500 because at $299.95 it is affordable and is smaller than either of the 1500's. Features both PinSeeker and scan modes and has a range of up to 1,000 yards.

Callaway LR 1200

The Callaway (made by Nikon) LR 1200 Rangefinder is the flagship model of the Callaway lineup. It provides quick and accurate distance measurement up to 1,200 yards, and features what Callaway calls "First Target Priority Mode". First Target Priority mode displays the range to the nearest target among multiple results obtained with a single measurement - useful when measuring the distance to a pin on a green with woods in the background. The LR 1200 features an LCD display with backlight - something the Bushnell rangefinders do not.

Callaway LR 800

The Callaway (by Nikon) LR 800 Rangefinder provides quick and accurate distance measurement up to 800 yards and also features First Target Technology. Range is up to 800 yards and the LR 800 also features an LCD display with backlight.

Click here to view a complete product comparison of all Bushnell and Callaway/Nikon products.

Mark Talkington established bestbuygolfballs.com to provide the logo golf ball customer an easy, convenient and secure site to buy logo golf balls and other products on the internet at the lowest prices possible... with THE BEST CUSTOMER SERVICE ANYWHERE!

It all started at Red Run Golf Course in Michigan in 1948 when our Dad got his first Head Professional Job. He knew that in order to sell, you had to have the best selection, offer outstanding service and price your products fair.

Our dad taught us that customer service is paramount and because of this, you will only deal with one Customer Service Specialist throughout your order. Our goal is to make sure you are MORE than satisfied with your experience at http://www.bestbuygolfballs.com

Thanks to our clients and customers, bestbuygolfballs.com has seen tremendous growth in 2004-2007 and we have expanded our product line by more than five times since we launched our first webstore in May of 2004. Our customer service department has grown as well in order to meet and exceed the expectations of our customers.

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Back to Basics

Events, ideas, circumstances and situations

All the aspects of my life I have categorized into the different shades of gray I wrap my past history in, are the process of coming undone. I have built myself upon these observations of my life and for the moment I see that for the most part it does not serve me in moving forward.

My life is colorful.

"I forget this, and as the days pass and the memories fade; my life become fragments of moments much like a black and white photograph.

Frozen.

Unchanged.

Colorless.

I forget that I have a choice available to me in every second to re-write my future by allowing myself to re-write my past. In this I dont mean convincing myself that I lived another life other then the one I have experienced thus farinstead allowing myself to experience the life I feel I have somehow missed by discovering that is exists

Here

Now

Today.

I went camping this past weekend with one of my sisters, my brother, my brother in law and my nieces and nephews. I am thirty-three years old and this was the first time since I have been about eight that I have gone on any type of family Vacation.

My parents werent with us, my other sister wasnt able to go due to her cancer treatment and my other brother in law couldnt get the time off to come with us. We were a big mis-mash of odds and endscoming together despite all that was missing to create a new definition

We went back to basicsand in that rebuilt and re-created a new definition of family.

I always felt a bit cheated that I didnt grow up like other people did. My house was not one to bring strangers into; for fear that my Father would have a mental breakdown. My Mother was so absorbed in keeping the fragments of my father together that often she wasnt able to give all of herself us they way I though she was supposed to.

My family did not reflect anything close to the gleaming white toothpaste smile families that decorated the television nightly.

My family was real.

We struggled, we had issues, we had illness, we had near death, we had sorrow, we had anger, we had laughter, we had funwe had all the aspects of what I now understand defines a family.

We had love.

Every member of my family held onto my sanity, carefully not to let go of the last mental strands I hung upon as I rappelled deeper and deeper into my heroin addiction through the years. My family would always race to my aid to help me dig out of the hopeless depression I would find myself buried beneath due to my mental illness.

We all ran to my sisters aid when her picture perfect life, manicured lawn and white picket fence no longer held the pieces of her sanity together. We all took another look at our piece of the family puzzle when my other sister was diagnosed with breast cancer this past November.

I believe the biggest struggle I have in this life is coming to terms with the reality that with all I know, all I think I knowit all really amounts to nothing. The recollections of my life I have hung onto have kept me stuck in the realities I created them out to be.

Colorless.

Unchanging.

Frozen.

Life is not like that. My life is not like that. My life has never been like that.

Yet at times I still lose myself in the beliefs the past is the past and it cannot be undone. One of those faulty beliefs that obviously still resides within me despite the volumes of truth that shatter this belief.

At the end of this weekend as we cleaned upthe kids kept themselves occupied by creating a talent show.

With a picnic table, a CD player and a Hanna Montana CD. They shattered the beliefs I clung to in regards to my past.

My 6 year old niece Madyson.

My 4 year old niece Penelope.

My 5 year old nephew James.

Bopping around awkwardly on top of the picnic table, moving and shaking themselves to the beat the best they could with no sense of rhythm. Screaming, laughing, smiling and singing along with Hanna Montana at the tops of their lungs

"best of both worlds"

Echoing throughout the pine trees that filled the camping area.

We all sat in chairs in front of the picnic table, clapping and cheering them on. My eyes filled with tears at the absolute beauty in the moment realizing how lucky I was.

How blessed I was.

I finally came to understand that those frozen black and white photos of my family I held in my memories had no place in helping me to rebuild the life I choose to live now.

Thats what I missedthats what I could never find. I was so consumed with what my family wasnt I never had the understanding of what my family was.

Ever-changingthe colorful display of our lives wrapped brilliantly in a rainbow of Love.

Fallbrook Kitchen Remodeling

An Informative Bulletin On Cement Board Siding

This article descibes in length about the wonders of Cement Board siding. It talks about its durability, strength and ease of adaptability. It is surely one of the best method of siding.

Cement board siding was first developed by James Hardie Industries in Australia over 100 years ago. The company discovered the process of its construction while researching building materials that could withstand the wear and tear associated with extreme climates. Cement board siding is extremely strong, and is resistant to fires, insects and rot. Cement board siding is highly moldable, meaning that it can appear in a variety of styles. In many cases, cement board siding is made with simulated wood grain. However, other designs, including smooth or stucco appearances, can also be found. Amazing Siding & Windows offers top-of-the-line cement fiber siding for your home. Expertly installed and backed by warranties that are unmatched anywhere in the industry, you may never need to concern yourself with the outside of your home again.

Cement board siding: Reliable

Unlike vinyl siding, cement board siding does need to be painted. However, unlike wood, cement board siding absorbs paint in an enduring way. Cement board siding coated in a good, protective paint will likely never peel or chip. While the appearance can be every bit as lovely as wood, you save yourself the worry about serious problems such as water damage. All of the exterior walls of most homes can be covered with cement fiber, and in many cases the soffits as well.

Fiber cement board siding is a great choice for homes around high winds and fire prone areas because of its high resistance. Termites and other harmful bugs are never a threat to this type of siding. Moisture won"t even be a factor with the life expectancy it provides.

The style of this siding is comparable to other plywood patterns. Both siding choices allow for the look of real wood whether it is smooth or embossed. One very noticeable difference when installing is that the fiber cement board siding weighs half as much as composite siding that is the same size.

Durability of Cement Board Siding.

There are many different ways to install fiber cement siding. Many ways of installing the siding is similar to how normal wood siding is installed. One popular installation method is to fasten siding with nails or wood screws on a wood frame.

Although installation for wood and fiber cement board siding is similar, ways to cut these types of siding is a different story. Fiber cement board siding is harder to cut and so it takes a little more time to work with than the other wood siding. To cut siding power tools are required. Before embarking on cutting and nailing siding, read all manufacturer directions to ensure your safety and the safety of those around you.

http://www.jameshardie.com/

James Hardie is a leader in the manufacturing and development of technologies, materials and manufacturing processes of durable building materials.

You can also find more info on house siding types and buy vinyl siding. Homesidingreview.com is a comprehensive resource to know more about home siding review.

Buildinginspection

Woodworking: Protection When Working With Wood - Ignoring Could Potentially Harm Your Health Or Kill

Woodworking: Basic Safety Tips

Woodworking can be a dangerous undertaking if you are not careful and choose to disregard safety guidelines. A circular saw, router, or other piece of power equipment can disfigure and even kill if not used properly. Even hand tools, which must be extremely sharp to provide best results, can cause serious injuries. In addition, the sawdust and fumes from wood can be harmful to the lungs if inhaled on a regular basis, especially if the wood was harvested from an orchard or tree farm where pesticides were used to control insects.

Fortunately, the advances in equipment and safety products have made it much more easy to have a safe working environment. Many tools come with built-in safety features like blade guards or emergency shut off switches. Other items such as feather boards and bench dogs can be made or purchased very inexpensively. And other parts of woodworking safety don't cost a thing, but draw instead on practice and common sense.

There are several key aspects of safety when it comes to woodworking, and they apply whether you have an advanced shop with many different power tools or are working with basic hand tools in your basement or den.

Protect Yourself
Protecting your body from accidents is a key aspect of woodworking safety. Unfortunately, people get lazy or too comfortable or they feel that the safety equipment gets in the way. A vast majority of shop accidents and injuries occur because people were not using their safety equipment.

Eye Protection
One of the main concerns when working with wood is eye protection. Wood chips can fly off when sawing, drilling, hammering, or any other task that penetrates the material. It usually happens far too quickly to be able to close your eyes or look away. Safety glasses solve this problem. In addition, if tools should break or a part comes loose, your eyes and forehead will be protected. Too many accidents have happened to just brush away this safety concern. It would be very difficult to pursue any woodworking interests with only one eye.

A good pair or safety glasses should be on everyone's list of safety equipment and should be used any time you will be cutting or removing wood with force or power tools. A quality pair of glasses will cost around $12 and could last you your entire life if properly cared for and put away when not in use. Those who need vision correction can even purchase safety classes with bifocal inserts in different strengths for under $20.

Ear Protection
Some power tools can be quite noisy and can damage hearing. Even repetitive hammering produces loud sharp noises. Many of us know a longtime woodworker who has difficulty hearing due to exposure to equipment over the years. Protecting your ears from the loud decibels is important, especially if you use noisy power equipment such as saws, on a regular basis.

Earplugs work well, earmuffs work even better, and a combination of the two is ideal when working with loud equipment that produces sound in the high decibel range. Earplugs cost just pennies, and a set of earmuffs runs about $15. You can get them with a radio and antenna built in for around $50.

Dust Collection
Over the past decade or two, extensive research has been done on the hazards of inhaling wood dust and particles, and the results show that it can cause respiratory diseases. Treated lumber or wood that came from commercial orchards is especially volatile. It is important to capture and remove these particles from the air or protect yourself from breathing them.

A work area with good ventilation will help, but even if you are working in an open area, you will be breathing in the dust if you are standing over the machine while it cuts the wood. If you plan to do a lot of cutting, drilling or sanding, it is best to have a machine that keeps the particles away from your face and prevents you from breathing them in.

There are several methods available, with the most basic being a dust mask. These lightweight masks made of filtering materials fit over your nose and mouth and are typically held in place by a rubber band. Innovative designs improve breathing and deter fogging of safety glasses. A box of 10 high quality dust masks costs around $10. They do not filter out toxic materials with fumes.

You can also purchase a dust collection system or respirator that you wear on your head or strap on your body. These systems are battery powered and allow you to move around freely. Some people feel that they are uncomfortable and impair vision, but they can be a critical way to protect your long-term health if you plan to spend a lot of time woodworking. Prices range from $50 for a basic system to over $250 for a system that also has head and eye protection.

Another option for dust collection is to use a localized unit that mounts under your worktable, saw, or other equipment and plugs into an outlet. They range from $50 to $250 depending on size, power, filtration system and other factors. A complete shop dust collection system, with a 1- horse motor and large dust ports averages around $300.

Control Your Environment
It is also important to prepare your work environment before starting a project. Be sure to put unneeded items away and pick things up off the floor. The less clutter, the less likely that something will get in the way or cause you to trip or be distracted.

In addition, good lighting will help you to see your work (and your fingers) better. Positional lighting such as a shop lamp will allow you to move around more and to direct the lighting exactly where it is needed.

Try to find an area where people will not be coming in and out. This is for your safety as for theirs, and is especially important when children are present. Be sure to unplug your equipment when you are done working and put away dangerous items such as utility knives and saw blades.

Avoid clothing that hangs loose, including long sleeves or apron strings. Long hair should be pulled back as well. Most power tools have a rotary motion that can grab and wrench a loose piece of fabric or strand of hair. Even if you are just making one cut or a quick drill hole, all it takes is one second for things to go bad. If you get in the habit of following these steps every time, you will develop good safety skills.

As one woodworking expert described, "Safety is like using your turn signal. If you do it every time you go to make a turn, even if it's just going out of the driveway, then you will remember to do it in every situation, especially when it counts the most."

But don't get so comfortable with your work and surroundings that you forget to think about what you are doing. Even though you may have done the same technique many times before, it is important to be conscious of the motions you are making and the movement of the tools.

One other environmental factor mentioned by several of the woodworkers was to have a phone nearby in case an accident does occur and you need to call for help. If you use a portable phone, be sure to put it in the same spot each time so you can go directly to it if needed. It is also a good idea to keep a first aid kit in your work area, just in case.

Take Your Time
As we all know, when we rush to finish something, mistakes tend to happen. In woodworking, this could be disastrous. Take your time, double check your clamps, footing, hand placement, power cord location, and other variables before you start the equipment. Even with hand tools, it is important to make sure you aren't going to saw through something electrical or nail into your hand.

Don't force a saw cut. If a blade gets hung up, back it out and start over. Also, wait for a tool to stop completely before taking your eye off of it or moving it away from the wood. Most drills, saws and other power tools take a few seconds to quit spinning after the power is stopped.

If a task feels uncomfortable, don't do it. You might get a tiny jitter in your belly the first time you start up the circular saw or feel the screw tighten down as you drill, and this is normal. But if you are overly apprehensive and can't hold your materials firmly or concentrate on what you are doing, back off and take a few breaths or find someone to help you with that particular step.

Another important aspect of woodworking safety is to know your tools and use them appropriately and safely. To learn more please refer to the newly published "Woodworking Beginner's Guide" mentioned at the end of this article. It describes many tools that beginners are likely to need and offers information about how to use and care for them.

Copyright 2005 by Ferhat Gul. All rights reserved. You may redistribute this article in its unedited entirety, including this resource box, with all hyperlinked URLs kept intact. Ferhat Gul is the publisher of the brand-new "Woodworking Beginner's Guide - Tips From Experienced Woodworkers to Help You Get Started", made just for people who love woodworking. This comprehensive, yet compact woodworking introduction for beginners is easy to read and helps to save time, money and effort.

Building Your House Help

How Using The Right Ladder Can Make Those Jobs Easier

Ladders come in a variety of styles and heights, and it's important to choose one that meets the needs of the task you're performing. Safety should always come first when using a ladder, so it's necessary to make sure you use the right ladder for the job. For instance, an extension ladder is suitable for reaching those high spots when decorating or cutting tree branches. But trying to reach up too high on a step ladder can be hazardous and lead to accidents. On the other hand, step ladders are ideal for those odd jobs round the house, from changing a light bulb to hanging curtains.

Extension ladders are used for all kinds of outside jobs, from professional window cleaning to painting gable ends of buildings. Aluminum ladders are commonly used, being lightweight and easily portable. However, a fiberglass ladder, although much heavier to move, is safer to use in the vicinity of electrical cables. Well-known manufacturers that sell a range of quality ladders include Werner Ladders and Wing Enterprises.

Inside the home, ladders come in handy in a number of situations. For instance, if you have high book shelves, fitting a rolling library ladder makes it quick and easy for you to reach those top shelves. Library ladders are generally made from wood, and come in a choice of colors and finishes to blend in with your dcor. Another place where a fitted ladder comes in useful is in a loft hatch. An attic access ladder makes it simple for you to utilize that extra storage space in the roof.

Whatever your requirements, from doing DIY in the home or garden, to reaching high shelves, there's a ladder to meet your needs. Choosing the right ladder for the job can help make your task much simpler.

Caroline Smith is a regular contributor to GetLadders.com - an online resource offering a range of ladders including attic ladders, the Little Giant Ladder and more.

New Construction Windows

Hello, my name is John Rocco.I grew up around the window and door business. My father owned a glass shop that dealt in every aspect of residential and commercial glass.Naturally, when it came time to choose a profession, i wound up in the window and door business.I have been in the business for about 27 years, and i have been self employed for 20.

One of the things that separated my company from my competitors was my willingness to show my customers how to replace their windows themselves. Whenever i would encounter a customer with a curiosity or willingness to learn how to install their own windows,i would offer to sell them the labor on one window,using them as my helper.Then,they would install the rest of the windows using the knowledge gained from helping me install one.Most window companies would never do this because there is so much money made on the labor.But i was always so busy,i never felt like it was costing me money.

Eventually, i made an installation video for those homeowners who wanted to do their own windows.While the video is for sale on my website, i decided to take excerpts from the video and write an article once a week covering some part of the window replacement project.This article is going to cover the difference between window frames used in new construction homes, and the window frames that are used to replace existing aluminum or wood windows.

When a new home is being built,the windows are nailed to the wood studs that make up the house frame.In order to accomplish this, new construction windows have a fin around all four sides of the frame that rests against the outside of the stud and nails are driven into the studs through the nailing fin. After that,flashing paper is applied to prevent water leaks,then the exterior material is applied. That material can be stucco, brick, siding, etc.

Now,imagine 10 or 20 years later when you want to replace those windows. If you were going to install your replacement windows the same way the original windows were installed, you would have to remove the exterior material around each window in order to get to those nails holding the frame in there. You can see how this procedure could cause many problems, not to mention all the labor involved. I have seen homes in california with stucco exteriors where the homeowner had the stucco cut out in order to remove the old windows.The problem was they were unable to match the stucco colors after patching. Its just not a very efficient way to replace windows. So the replacement frame was designed.

In most parts of the country it's simply a new construction window frame with the nail fin removed. In the west, where stucco is a common home exterior,a retrofit frame was designed. If you're going to be replacing the exterior material on your home, then you might want to consider going with the new construction window since the nailing fins will be exposed anyway. Also, chances are that a contractor will be doing your exterior replacement,and it would be wise to let the contractor install the windows as well.Since my installation videos deal with window replacement only, these articles will focus on replacement frames and retrofit frames. Using these two frame styles,a do it yourselfer can replace their old windows without any damage to existing interior and exterior surfaces. And the job can be done using common tools such as a drill,tape measure, and caulking gun.

In next weeks article,we will discuss the replacement of wood sash windows.

John Rocco has been installing replacement windows since 1978

To learn more, visit http://www.vinylwindowsforless.com

Stair Building Books

How Using The Right Ladder Can Make Those Jobs Easier

Ladders come in a variety of styles and heights, and it's important to choose one that meets the needs of the task you're performing. Safety should always come first when using a ladder, so it's necessary to make sure you use the right ladder for the job. For instance, an extension ladder is suitable for reaching those high spots when decorating or cutting tree branches. But trying to reach up too high on a step ladder can be hazardous and lead to accidents. On the other hand, step ladders are ideal for those odd jobs round the house, from changing a light bulb to hanging curtains.

Extension ladders are used for all kinds of outside jobs, from professional window cleaning to painting gable ends of buildings. Aluminum ladders are commonly used, being lightweight and easily portable. However, a fiberglass ladder, although much heavier to move, is safer to use in the vicinity of electrical cables. Well-known manufacturers that sell a range of quality ladders include Werner Ladders and Wing Enterprises.

Inside the home, ladders come in handy in a number of situations. For instance, if you have high book shelves, fitting a rolling library ladder makes it quick and easy for you to reach those top shelves. Library ladders are generally made from wood, and come in a choice of colors and finishes to blend in with your dcor. Another place where a fitted ladder comes in useful is in a loft hatch. An attic access ladder makes it simple for you to utilize that extra storage space in the roof.

Whatever your requirements, from doing DIY in the home or garden, to reaching high shelves, there's a ladder to meet your needs. Choosing the right ladder for the job can help make your task much simpler.

Caroline Smith is a regular contributor to GetLadders.com - an online resource offering a range of ladders including attic ladders, the Little Giant Ladder and more.

2 X 12 Doug Fir Exterior Stair

Find The Right Showerhead For Your Bathroom

Find The Right Showerhead
These days there is more to bathrooms than your average bath, basin and toilet suite; with the rising popularity of wet rooms and shower rooms the range of shower fittings on the market has developed rapidly. So, to help you sort your fixed heads from your hand-helds, we've compiled a brief guide of some things to think about before you buy.

Fixed Head versus Hand Held
Shower heads fit into two main categories: Fixed head or hand held. Each of these work differently and have their pros and cons.

Fixed head
Screwed to the wall or ceiling, these give a designer look and, as the spray is fixed, there's no danger of accidentally soaking the rest of the room. It's not the handiest for cleaning, though (or washing a squirming child). Also, it can be costly to instal and repair as the pipework should be hidden in the wall.

Hand held
Slots into a bracket that's either fixed to the wall or on a riser rail so you can adjust its height, connected by a flexible hose. These don't look as sleek or streamlined as fixed heads, but the great advantage is that you can detach them for focussed rinsing and easy cleaning of the shower enclosure.

What Is Your Shower Style
Rose head: Stylish option with a wide head and lots of small holes, giving a raindrop pattern spray - perfect for those who like a gentle shower.

Ceiling head: Similar spray to a rose head, but requires more water pressure than usual and is the most complicated head to fit. Good choice for wet rooms.

Multifunction head: Twist the head to alter the flow rate and pattern of the spray. Try out the twist action in the shop, remembering that you'll have to move it with wet, soapy hands.

Single Mode head: The most common type, this one is smaller than a rose head and doesn't have an adjustable spray, but it's cheaper and more water-efficient.

Double head: Either two sprays on one unit, an overhead spray plus a side-spray, or a fixed head and a hand-held. Very luxurious, but not water efficient.

Frequently Asked Questions
Do water systems make a difference?
Not all systems are compatible with every type of sower head. Generally, gravity-fed and combi-boiler systems work best with single mode or multifunction heads; mains pressure systems suit all types if shower heads.

What spray options are available?
A raindrop spray gives a gentle draining effect with large droplets; a jet spray gives a strong, invigorating stream. Mist patterns (fine drops ) and champagne sprays (small drops, the standard type) give a relaxing shower.

How much water will it use?
Some shower heads are more water-efficient than others. Single mode heads are the best options due to the smaller size of the head and the more economical champagne spray pattern.

Can I fit a new head to my old shower?
Most hand-held heads can have the head and hose replaced, but check before you buy. Fixed heads can't be swapped without ripping out the pipework.

You can find more information on bathroom fittings and bathroom design ideas at house to home, helping you create a look you'll love

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