How to Choose a Computer for your Business

You get the most out of your technology. You have been using your latest computer for about 4 years. And now you are noticing just how slow that computer has become. Needs change and you need something that keeps pace with your business. But what should you be looking for? Let's sit down and do a consultation. This is the same advice that I would give my clients if asked this question.

Mobile or Desk Bound

The first question you need to be asking is a basic one. Does your business dictate a laptop or a desktop computer? If you make frequent presentations on the road, a laptop is a must. If you want something that is on the highest end of processor power, you should consider a desktop computer. Desktop computers always run higher on processing power than laptops. Laptops require miniaturization and, as such, take longer to develop. Hence, they are always behind the power curve. Will this computer be acting as a server? Will it "serve" up files to other computers on your network. If that's the case, you won't be wanting to take that out of the office. That would disconnect users from their data. And that's a no-no.

The Price Point

Never ever go after a computer based on an initial price. Most brand name computer manufacturers have learned a marketing trick. They put a computer sticker price at the lowest possible price. But this price will not be the price you will pay. Unless you want the barest bones computer you can imagine. You will almost always end up paying hundreds more than the initially quoted price once you're done. It's just a sneaky way to get you "in the door." But there are other reasons you should never go on price alone.

It's All About Support

Probably the single most important factor for choosing a computer these days is support. What kind of support will you have once this company has made a sale? A while ago, computers differed tremendously in their configuration and components. But things have changed. Now, computers are incredibly modular. Most of the major manufacturers use very similar, or identical, components. There are many reasons for this change, but all you need to know is that the main issue isn't components anymore. It really is about the post sale support. Research your manufacturer and get the "skinny" on their class of support. If you are going after a local cheapy beware. Sure, you may get an excellent deal, but will they be around if the computer breaks?

The Middle Road is Golden

People tend to make one of two mistakes when they buy a computer. They either tend to buy too little computer or too much. Don't go after a super cheap computer. It's almost always a bad idea, unless you happen across a great deal. In my experience, this rarely happens. Also, don't get top of the line components in your computer. You will pay a premium for these items. And in six months, you will be kicking yourself as those components have depreciated tremendously. A good rule of thumb is to look at the low and high ends and pick something in between. You will get a great deal for your money and it will last you many years.

Essential Software

A lot of computer vendors are in the habit of stuffing software onto systems. They will give you everything you don't need. This gives the illusion of value. But really that software will just bloat your system. You only need a few pieces of software really. Obviously, there is the operating system, or OS. This will most likely be Windows. Then you need an office suite. Again, this will most likely be a Windows based product like Office. As a sidenote, you may want to look at Openoffice(openoffice.org). It's free and is compatible with Microsoft Office. Just make sure you get the right version of Office. This is especially true of Powerpoint, Microsoft's presentation software. Not all versions have Powerpoint included.

Don't get bogged down in all the options. Just remember, most computers are basically the same. They have most of the same hardware and software. I have discussed some of the major differences. Remember, in this day and age, it really is about the support.

Copyright 2006 Jack Knows Inc.

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Custom Software Development Checklist

Custom database software development is facilitated by the use of a checklist of standard questions to be answered before a system is created, and before analysis begins. This checklist is provided to assist in the Analysis/Requirements phase of a new custom software development project.

If you are interested in having 21st Century Technologies, Inc. create a new system for you, then the following checklist and the associated answers will facilitate the analysis process. The answers can be e-mailed or faxed to us at the email address and fax number at the bottom of the page.

BUSINESS CONSIDERATIONS

1. Desired delivery date or proposed project schedule.
2. Business reason for, and urgency of project.
3. What are the cost constraints?
4. Use cases - description of how each group of users will be using the system.
a. General business process - web user will buy a product, web user will add a customer, web user will add contact information, etc.
b. Input/Output - web users will enter data into forms, data will be imported, administrator must run many management reports, administrator needs to export to Excel and text, etc.
c. Frequency of activity - many times each day, once daily, weekly, etc.
d. Cycles of activity - weekly sales reports to all sales managers on Monday morning, close books at end of year, etc.

NATURE OF APPLICATION

1. Do you have a desired development tool or technology in mind? You may want to split the application into some parts that can be run on a Windows workstation computer, while other parts (like reports, or timecard entry screens) are accessed via a web browser on your local intranet. Web applications and reports can be viewed on all computer types and operating systems that are capable of viewing web pages. Some tools currently available to build the system are listed here:
a. C#/VB.NET
b. ASP.NET
c. Active Server Pages or Cold Fusion for robust database driven Web applications
d. ColdFusion
e. Visual Basic
f. SQL Server
g. MS Access
h. JavaScript - for cross browser compatibility,
i. VBScript - for server scripting, and client scripting if Internet Explorer is the only client browser
j. Dreamweaver - for higher ended client functionality
k. SQL Server Reporting Services
l. Crystal Reports - for Windows and Web based reports
m. ActiveReports
n. Excel
o. PowerPoint
p. Interactive Voice Response (IVR) Systems - dial 1 for English, 2 for Spanish...
2. If other applications are involved (MS Word, MS Excel, QuickBooks, etc.), what version will be used?
3. Desired screen resolution (800x600, 1024x768, etc.),
4. Screen Size (15", 17", 19, 21")
5. Preferred Font and size (Arial 10, Times New Roman 12, etc.)?
6. Target Windows version for each client computer in the system (98, NT 4.0, 2000, XP, 2003 Server, etc.),
7. Web Server MS Internet Information Services (IIS), Apache, etc.
8. Target computer Operating System if not a Windows Platform - Apple, Unix, Linux, etc.
9. Target workstation hardware for all client stations,
a. Clock speed 1333, 1500, 2000, 3000, etc. MHz,
b. Hard drive space 100, 200, 400, etc. Gbytes,
c. RAM 128Mb, 256Mb, 512Mb, 1Gb, etc.
10. If a network application, which network and version? Windows, Novell 3.1, Novell, etc.
11. What are the drive letters for the networked back end databases if a network application? F, G, H, etc.? This reduces the deployment effort by developing in the same environment as the target workstations.
12. If available and pertinent, please provide a network configuration diagram with paths to server (where database will reside) and all clients, security/user groups, etc.
13. Is 24x7 (24 hours a day, 7 days a week) uptime required? If so, please explain the business need. We will discuss this further. The cost goes up as more uptime is required. More resources are needed - various personnel on pagers, redundant computers or components like power supplies RAID or mirrored hard drives, etc.
14. Is Internet/Intranet data access desired?
a. For data entry?
b. For report reviewing only?
c. To disseminate existing documents?
d. To email notification of pre-determined business trigger events (project milestone met and approved, employee appraisal ready for approval, etc.)?
15. Is Security desired?
a. Extremely high network (Internet) security - firewall, proxy server, etc.
b. Database level security - MS Access has security, but SQL Server has a much tighter security model tied in with the Win 2000/NT operating system.
c. Application level security
d. Minimum (pseudo) security algorithm low cost
e. Please specify User Groups that may have special Security needs requiring different levels of security:
i. Administrative Assistants
ii. Analysts
iii. Engineers
iv. Managers
v. Company Owners
vi. System Administrators
16. Are Backup Scenarios currently in place? Backups will be an integral component of the system. The importance of this cannot be over emphasized.
a. Daily, Weekly, Monthly onto tape
b. Daily, Weekly, Monthly onto CD or other optical drive
c. Onto another computer
d. Regular backups located at a remote site
17. Are Anti-Virus protection and policies in place? It is an important part of ensuring that a system stays up and running.
18. Will remote troubleshooting be desired? The addition of Error Processing and Logging software will facilitate remote support and troubleshooting.
19. Desired Documentation?
a. None
b. Installation
c. User
d. Administrator
e. Software
f. On-line help
g. Special
h. All of the above
20. What is the proficiency level of all users for the target tools and environments Windows, Excel, etc.?
21. Will interfaces to other systems (accounting, payroll, another database, GIS, truck routing, etc.) be required? This will affect the data model and system configuration, so early planning for these interfaces is critical to their successful inclusion into the system.
22. Is an audit trail function desired for changes to existing data? What parts of the system will need to be audited?
23. Is government reporting or data security required Sarbanes Oxley, HIPAA, etc.
24. Number of reports. A sample hardcopy or at least hand drawing of each will significantly help in determination of report prices and commonalties (company headers, formats, etc.). Important items are:
a. Number of sections including sort groups,
b. Definition of the source data for all fields in each section and their calculation method,
c. Summaries,
d. Desired output format:
i. Windows screen preview
ii. HTML
iii. E-Mail
iv. PDF
v. Delimited Text
vi. Excel spreadsheet
vii. Other outputs
25. Is an ad hoc user-defined reporting, data retrieval, or analysis (On Line Analytical Processing (OLAP), Data Mining, etc.) capability desired?
26. Is an installation program needed for distribution of an application to many users?
27. Is an automated network or internet installation desired?
28. Are custom point to point communications needed? This may also include automated faxing.
29. Special Considerations:
a. Unique business rules, calculations, desired warnings, etc.
b. Significant text parsing
c. Known or possible issues and problems that may be alleviated with testing
d. Voice driven capability
e. Multiple databases (Access and SQL Server, Oracle, etc.)

DATA AND VOLUME

1. How many users are expected on the system in the near (first 6 months) and long (1 3 years and past) term?
2. How many users are expected to use the system at the same time during peak periods in the near and long term?
3. What type of data traffic will be on the network for the near and long term - numbers, text, images, video, multi-media, etc.?
4. What is the expected volume of traffic for the near and long term?
5. What is the estimated number of data records to be stored for the near and long term?
6. Do we need to import data from existing files or systems? Note that Characters like " # have special significance in data processing and conversion, and require special code handling. Names (DJoy) and other data fields may contain these characters.
a. No. Example data will usually be provided in database, text, or spreadsheet format. This helps significantly in system testing and allows for error discovery and error trapping before the system is delivered.
b. Yes.
i. Is all or part of the existing data needed? What parts?
ii. Can use of the existing data be stopped while we convert the data into the new system?
iii. Is this a one time data conversion, or will we have to import data from existing systems regularly?
iv. Are some fields mostly blank?
v. Are some desired fields missing?

Michael A. Cordova is the President of 21st Century Technologies, Inc. Contact him at:Gerrilee Blog21688
Freddi Blog48885

A Guide to Buying a Property in Greece

Guide to Buying Property in Greece

Overview

The Greek Property Market

Perhaps it was the attention drawn to Greece when the Olympic Games were held there in 2004. Perhaps it was the entry of Greece into the European Union. No matter what the primary reason, Greece has begun to attract an ever growing number of foreign nationals who are investing in real estate in that country since the turn of the century. Indeed, to utilize an overused term -- when it comes to real estate, Greece is hot.

The greatest deal of real estate activity in Greece involves property that is used for vacation or holiday purposes. In point of fact, some of the fastest moving real estate markets in all of Europe are those that are located in Grecian resort communities. Literally thousands of people from a wide range of different countries can be found snatching up real estate in one or another of the various Grecian resort areas.

Foreign nationals have also invested heavily in commercial properties in Greece, particularly in the larger cities in the country. This includes investment in properties that house retail operations and enterprises as well as office buildings. The demand for office space within Greece -- again, particularly in the major cities -- has increased dramatically since Greece became a part of the European Union.

Investment Property in Greece

Again, in the aftermath of the Olympic Games, many real estate analysts maintain that the country -- particularly in and around Athens -- has been overbuilt, at least to some degree. This is a natural result in the aftermath of the Olympic Games and other large scale events such as the World's Fair.

In any event, this renders Greece an ideal locale for investment in real estate of all sorts -- industrial, commercial, residential, holiday property. This factor, coupled with Greece's admission into the EU, renders it a prime spot for realty investment. A significant number of foreign nationals have been attracted to the profitable Grecian real estate market at the present time.

Residential Real Estate in Greece - Single Family Properties

Low cost single family dwellings are rather difficult to find in the Athens metro-plex. If a person is interested in residential housing in that part of the country, the best bet at this point in time is apartments (which will be discussed in more detail shortly).

Understanding the functionality of the Athens residential market, there are a number of different areas beyond Athens in which single family residences can be purchased for a reasonable amount of money.

In addition, in different resort areas around the country there are some splendid (and pricy) villas and other properties that are attractive to well heeled foreign nationals who want second homes and holiday properties. With little difficulty on the hunt, a person with a bankroll to spend, can locate and purchase these types of homes.

Finally, there are farmsteads in different parts of Greece that are on the market. Some foreign nationals have taken to purchasing these types of properties which they then renovate and turn into magnificent second or holiday homes. Oftentimes, these properties can be purchased on the cheap and improved with only a moderate investment and expenditure. There are some foreign nationals who have taken to buying and then improving these properties after which they put them on the market and turn a tidy profit.

Residential Real Estate in Greece - Apartments

With the return of the Olympic Games to Greece, there was a boom in the number of apartments that were being constructed in that country, particularly in and around Athens -- the site of the games. Once the games concluded, there was a general consensus that developers had overbuilt apartments in Greece, again particularly in and around the capital city.

With this said and understood the apartment market in Greece (most especially in and around Athens) truly has become one that favours buyers at this point in time. Consequently, many foreign investors have been active in purchasing apartment properties in Greece. Many such foreign property buyers have realized outstanding deals in the apartment market in Athens and in surrounding communities at the present time.

Holiday Property in Greece

As has been mentioned previously, the vacation or holiday real estate market in Greece is "hot." Indeed, the demand for vacation real estate has continued to increase each and every year since the turn of the century.

The country of Greece is dotted with some of the most extraordinary resort, vacation and holiday destinations to be found anywhere in the world. Tourists from around the globe can be found flocking to Greece each and every year.

An ever growing number of foreign nationals have turned to purchasing vacation or holiday properties in different locations around Greece for two primary reasons. First of all, and as was noted, Greece is a very popular travel and tourist destination. Thus, many of these people are making the purchase of this type of real estate for their own, personal purposes. Through the ownership of this type of real estate, people -- including extended families --can enjoy extended holidays in Greece.

In addition to purchasing vacation properties for their own usage, some farsighted individuals are purchasing this type of real estate so that they can then, in turn, rent or lease these properties to other individuals. Because of the large number of people who travel to Greece each and every year, this type of real estate investment is proving to be very profitable for a significant number of foreign nationals.

Mortgage Options

When considering the options for a mortgage on your overseas property there are a couple of choices to consider;

Do you consider raising finance on your existing property in the UK to cover the whole cost of your purchase abroad? A good idea if the interest rate in the country in question is a lot higher than it is here in the UK as you will pay a lot less in monthly repayments.

Do you secure a mortgage against the property from a local bank in the country of purchase? This can be a wise option especially if the interest rate is lower than our current UK interest rate. Most overseas mortgage / bank lenders will require upto 30% deposit on mortgages. However, you will need to give some thought to how you will service your mortgage payments each month especially if you are not living or earning in that country as you may well lose out on exchanging money each time to cover monthly expenses. Check out our Foreign Currency page to see how you can save money in this example

Some Builders and developers may well offer their own mortgage facilities on their properties for sale. This can be beneficial to both parties depending on the logistics of the mortgage or loan facility. Always check and compare with the two options above before making your final descision.

For more details on Mortgages in Greece visit our Mortgage page in the Greece section.

Specific steps to buying real estate property in Greece

On many levels, buying real estate in Greece -- particularly if you are a foreign national -- can be a rather complicated and sometimes confusing process. However, by understanding the process up front, and by understanding the various requirements and regulations that apply to foreign nationals seeking to buy real estate in Greece, a foreign citizen can successfully acquire property in Greece.

As a general rule, a foreign national actually can purchase real estate in most parts of Greece. However, a foreign national who is not from a European Union nation must obtain the prior approval from the local prefecture in certain areas in Greece: some regions of northern Greece, Rhodes and Crete. Many real estate agents aid foreign nationals in obtaining the necessary permission in these areas. Obtaining this permission from a local prefecture generally does not take a great deal of time and usually is granted without significant fuss.

Before anyone -- a citizen of Greece, the EU or another foreign national -- can purchase real estate in Greece, that person must first obtain a tax role number, known in Greece as AFM. This number is easy to get and can be obtained at any tax office in the country. The tax number can be obtained from these offices on the sport. Citizens of Greece or another EU nation need only show their government issued ID card. Citizens of other countries must show a passport to obtain the AFM.

Grecian authorities are very concerned about where a foreign national is obtaining money to purchase real estate in Greece. As a consequence, a person from another country interested in buying property in Greece will need to obtain what is known as a "pink slip" for wire transfers of money from abroad. The purchaser has to be able to demonstrate where the money is coming from and if he or she cannot, Grecian governmental authorities will consider any money wired into the country as income and will tax it accordingly.

In addition, money to purchase real estate in Greece must come directly from a Grecian bank and bank account. Therefore, before a person can actually make a purchase of real property in Greece, he or she will need to open a bank account. Provided that a person has proper documentation, and provided that a person has the pink slip to demonstrate the origin of the money involved, it is not difficult to open a bank account in Greece.

A public notary -- who is an independent official -- oversees the real estate purchase process. Once an offer is made on the property, a preliminary contract is drafted. A deposit of up to about 10% is placed on the property at the time this agreement is executed. (The deposit is not refundable unless the seller somehow disrupts or ends the sales process or unless clear title to the real estate cannot be had in the time allotted under the preliminary contract.) After the buyer obtains his or her financing, and the seller satisfies his or her own obligations under the preliminary agreement, a final contract is signed between the parties.

With the execution of the final contract, the ownership of the property will be conveyed legally to the buyer. The final contract is signed before the public notary. In addition, according to Greek law, the real estate agent or agents who have been involved in effecting the sale must be present for the signing of the final contract.

Property Abroad always recommends using a Solicitor or Lawyer.

Les Calvert the Director writes numerous articles for websites and tabloids.Hildy Blog98658
Hadria Blog40778

The Truth Behind The Back Sleep Position For Infants

The present threat of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) among infants has created a stir not only to mothers, but to medical experts as well. Over the years, modern science have been looking for better sleeping position that can prevent such tragedy.

Among babies, sleeping on ones back is recommended as opposed to sleeping on ones stomach. It has been a popular myth that when babies are allowed to sleep on their backs, they are most likely to choke. This is actually not the case. Most babies do vomit or spit during sleep. When this happens, some believed that babies are prone to choking when they are in a back sleep position. The truth is - babies involuntarily swallow any fluid they produce while in sleep. Doctors state that there has been no instance where such incidents were increased with such sleeping position.

A distinguished medical organization, the American Academy of Pediatrics, recommended infants to sleep on their backs. Medical experts attest that the back sleep position can decrease the risk of SIDS. Modern research shows that the chances of acquiring SIDS among children were lowered dramatically by almost 40% each year if such sleeping position was implemented. It is actually beneficial for babies if they are in this position as they can easily move their arms and legs.

Babies who are 2- 4 months old are likely to shift positions, put them back to the back sleep position by carefully rolling them over. Another option is to carefully swaddle them in a comfortable blanket to prevent them from sleeping on their stomach. You can also get one of those special swaddling blankets available in the market.

At first, your babies may find it uncomfortable to sleep on their backs because they naturally sleep on their stomachs. It would be the parents or the guardians responsibilities to train them in the back sleep position. With enough practice, they would eventually make it a sleeping habit. When training your babies, remember to remind your relatives or babysitters who might put your child into sleep in case of your absence.

Jason Rickard is the owner of http://www.yourfavouriteshop.com - Offering White Noise and Relaxation CDs - Visit http://www.hapahapa.com for more articles.Glenine Blog80259
Georgena Blog6314

Why Not Obtain Your Business Degree Online?

For any young person wondering what type of training they should venture into or what profession will supply them with a long-term, solid career, obtaining a business degree online may be the perfect solution to avoid many situations others face in their lives.

Finding a job in today's competitive markets isn't easy. First-time job seekers can be overwhelmed by the requirements companies are asking in their employment advertisements and need to know they have the education to back up their value to any business. People working at a good job without having finished college might one day face company reorganization and find themselves lacking employment. Having enough credentials and qualifications to land a new job that pays the same salary is very important. Some individuals choose a career and get the education they need, and then discover they don't enjoy the chosen profession.

Whatever the reason for needing a solid degree or for wanting to increase the education you already have, obtaining a business degree online is a great choice that gives you plenty of opportunity to train in a strong profession at your own pace and to explore building up employment experience at the same time. Online degrees allow you to earn credits and get instruction from the comfort of your own home and at the hours or days you choose to study, leaving you with plenty of spare time to pursue other ventures or personal interests. Many people can't afford to take years off work to earn their college degree and online education allows individuals to study part-time and hold a job that brings income at the same time.

Certainly, our information-packed, technological world has changed the face of training and instruction, with educational facilities responding to people's needs. Whereas in the past, distance education had a negligible reputation that wasn't always recognized, nowadays top schools and universities are offering online courses and degree programs that every employer considers an asset. For example, individuals can pursue a business degree online in the areas of private sector account, human resources management, business administration, health care and criminal justice. Degrees in these fields are very valuable to businesses and corporations, almost guaranteeing secure, high-paying employment.

Individuals interested in pursuing a business degree online definitely save in the expenses area, making this type of obtaining education a cost-effective one. There are no travel expenses or lodging costs related to online learning, and all any individual needs to receive online instruction is a computer. Keeping education costs low means that students incur far less debt, a big advantage versus those individuals who stay on campus or who commute to their educational facilities. Also, the opportunity to continue working without packing a part-time job into weekends means that many students can support themselves while earning their business degree online. The financial considerations of online and distance education make the choice of how and where to study an easy decision.

Of course, pursuing higher education and working towards a business degree online means that individuals need to ensure that other factors don't disrupt obtaining their credits. Having a quiet environment to study is important, and individuals with families need to set aside a place where they won't be disturbed. Also, dedication, motivation and self-control is also a large factor in online education procrastinating personalities and individuals who find it difficult to function outside of a controlled environment, such as scheduled classes and professor-assigned tasks, should not venture into distance education. But for most people, the goals of a solid degree and strong credentials is plenty enough motivation and the long-term results of a good career are well worth the efforts!

Andy West is a freelance writer for Virginia College. Virginia College Online offers many Business Degree Online programs. Please visit Virginia College Online at http://www.vconline.edu/site/department.cfm?Department_ID=1 to select the online program that is right for you.Florance Blog61506
Helge Blog87617

Get Your Dream Smile With Braces NYC

Have you ever felt that something is missing in your smile and that is making your smile incomplete? It may be just because of your teeth, as teeth are the prominent aspect of dazzling smile. Now a day many people face dental problem of misaligned teeth, this can cause severe embarrassment when you are smiling. Misaligned teeth are biggest difficulty in having a dazzling dream smile. Using Braces NYC is the perfect way to overcome the problem of misaligned and unattractive teeth. New York is a dream city for everyone; it has various kinds of features which grabs attention. To deal with the problem of misaligned teeth, New York City has many dentists, who can give your smile the charm of glitters.

Braces NYC are the best feature provided by the dentists to overcome from the problem of distorted and unattractive teeth. Using braces is the permanent solution for misaligned teeth which takes a very short span of time to glorify your smile for lifetime. There is no age bar to adapt this technique; either you are a kid, youngster or 30+ person, you can easily go for braces to get well aligned teeth. Some people feel shy to use braces because they think that it will look bad, for them there is also a perfect solution and that is transparent or invisible braces NYC. In New York City You can see many people from every age group who are using braces to get better smile.

Like any other health product braces are also getting some up gradation which is making it more famous among people. Now you have many options for choosing the best braces NYC. Multicolor braces of rubber and invisible braces are also available in market now which is suitable for kids as well. Make sure that you take the advice of your dentist before you decide using braces on your teeth. The dentist has special qualification to decide what needs to be done to correct certain conditions. You will have to go through a proper procedure for using brace in which the dentist will first of all examine your teeth and conduct any further tests that may be required to know the exact condition of your oral health. After finding the problem dentist will suggest you the most suitable one as there are different types of braces with excellent results.

Once you start using braces, follow all the cautions and instructions suggested by dentist. Always keep your teeth clean so that any further problem may not occur. Keeping your braces and teeth clean is one of the top most priorities and you must make sure that your teeth are clean at all times. You must open your braces after having meal and clean teeth properly. You can also use special flossier that are made for people who wear braces and use it to keep your teeth clean. So use braces NYC to align your teeth properly and gift yourself a brighter smile of confidence.

Erzana Jones has special interest in dentistry and health related topics.For more information about Dentist,Braces NYC or any kind of dental emergency visit http://www.manhattandentalspa.com Gwenneth Blog62729
Hedwig Blog36680

Great First Date Ideas

You can get so sidetracked picking the right outfit and waxing your car; you forget to find something better to do than the boring dinner and movie. Let us help. Here are some excellent choices for first date ideas:

Comedy Theater
Laughing together can break the ice better than anything else. Take in a comedy show and relax together whilst you giggle away the evening. Just avoid too much alcohol or offensive performers.

Billiards
If youre looking for a casual way to relate to each other and break the ice, try a friendly game of pool. Eight Ball is simple to understand, and if things really go well, you might be able to help her improve her break.

Miniature Golf
So eighteen holes would be a bit much for almost any date, but ten holes of putt-putt might be right up your alley. Nobody does exceptionally well at miniature golf, but it is always fun to play especially if you cheat a little bit every now and then. Let those secrets help bring you closer.

Dinner Theater
There is nothing wrong with dinner and show, but try a show that sizzles. Skip the cinema, and find a quality dinner theater. Watch professionals act without the assistance of computer animated special effects whilst you enjoy a meal together. The arts are always an excellent choice.

Coffee
There is no need to sign away your entire evening to a first date. Start small. Try meeting for coffee just to size each other up. If a coffee date goes well, extend the date by heading off for grander adventures together.

Concert
While a heavy metal concert might not be the best place to try and get to know each other, a concert in the park or jazz festival might be perfect. Appreciate music together and have a basis for continuous conversation.

Museum
Who says a date cant be educational? Enjoy an art or history museum and learn together. If you havent visited a museum lately, you might be amazed at the exhibits available.

Picnic
Picnics can be romantic or casual, and for a first date you should shoot for the latter. Grab a few basics and head out to the park or beach. Enjoying a meal out of doors is relaxing and a perfect opportunity to get to know each other better.

Botanical Garden
Surround yourself in natural beauty at botanical gardens. Quiet strolls through rose bushes and koi ponds offer a sense of peace and tranquility. It would not be advisable to pick any of the flowers for your date, but you can certainly bring along a camera and take pictures together.

Ice Cream
Are you not ready to commit to a full-scale date? Try something simple like ice cream. Find a good ice cream shop and let yourself go wild. Diets dont exist on first dates, so get an extra scoop and then enjoy the afternoon together as you stroll and visit.

Ron Zvagelsky has a degree in Business Administration from the University of Southern California. He graduated Magna Cum Laude in May 2006. He is currently the Chief Executive Officer of http://www.planjam.com -- a new interactive planning website.Gretchen Blog88566
Holly Blog63144

15 Christmas Decorating Ideas

Decorating your home for the holidays does not need be stressful or expensive. Being one of the most popular times of the year to decorate, get your family involved and have fun making your home beautiful for the holiday season.

Here are 15 Christmas decorating ideas:

1. Display your favorite Christmas collections. If you dont have a collection, now is a great time to start! My son and I collect nutcrackers and every year we have a wonderful time selecting just the right one. With a permanent marker, I write the year on the bottom of the nutcracker. Not only do we enjoy looking at the nutcrackers during the holidays, we also enjoying the fond memories of selecting them.

2. Make simple bows out of Christmas ribbons and attach them to your curtains with pins. This is a very charming look.

3. Decorate your house plants by hanging small Christmas ornaments on them.

4. Place a collection of Christmas books on your coffee table.

5. Fill a glass bowl with pine cones and Christmas balls and place on a shelf or table.

6. Wrap your staircase banister with indoor Christmas lights, garland, and bows.

7. To add scent throughout your home, tie 5 or 6 cinnamon sticks together in a bundle using Christmas ribbon. Make as many bundles as you wish and place around your home in baskets or bowls.

8. To decorate your table, tie Christmas ribbon to the stems of glasses and/or handles of cutlery

9. To dress up your chairs, tie Christmas bows around the chair so that the bow is on the back of the chair.

10. Using a small brush or q-tip, paint the edges of pine cones with glittery gold craft paint. After the pine cones dry, place them in a decorative basket.

11. Add Christmas garland to door frames, window frames and mirrors. You can use tape to secure the garland to the surfaces.

12. Tie bows around door knobs using festive and colorful Christmas ribbon.

13. Attach garland and Christmas bows to your chandelier. You can also weave strings of red beads in the garland that will dangle down from your chandelier and reflect the light, which will add sparkle.

14. If you live in a milder climate, consider decorating with Amaryllis plants. These beautiful plants come in red and white, grow tall, and provide a very elegant look.

15. Dont forget to decorate your fireplace mantel and hang your Christmas stockings. A few fireplace mantel decorating ideas are adding garland, different styles and sizes of Santas, teddy bears, and candles. You can also display your favorite nativity scene if you have a large enough mantel.

Be creative with your fireplace mantel because most mantels are the focal point during the holiday season. Another decorating idea for your mantel is to purchase a bunch of miniature rosemary trees shaped like Christmas trees, add mini ornaments to them and line them up across your mantel. These miniature rosemary trees are readily available during the holidays and come in festive containers.

Christmas decorating is a great time to create traditions and spend quality time with your family. Get out some snacks and drinks and create a little decorating party that youre family will love and look forward to year after year.

Happy Holidays!

Lesley Dietschy is a writer, jewelry designer, and the founder of a network of popular websites including http://www.HomeDecorExchange.com and http://www.HomeGardenExchange.com . Both of these websites feature valuable information and resources to assist you in decorating your home and garden.Ianthe Blog52957
Holly Anne Blog72942

Six Forex Trading Tips for Newbies

You have decided to be a trader in the forex market, and you have no idea on how to begin. Let's first start by defining what the forex market is and what it does.

The term "forex", also known as the foreign exchange is a market for the sale and purchase of all kinds of currencies. It originated in the early 1970's when floating currencies and free exchange rates were first introduced. At this time, the forex market traders were the ones who set the value of one type of currency against another.

Nowadays, the market forces determine the value of a currency against another. One unique aspect of the Forex market is that very little trading qualifications are required of anyone intending to trade therein.

Independence from external control ensures that only the market forces influence the currency prices. As the largest financial market, with trades reaching up to 1.5 trillion U.S. dollars, or USD, the money moves so fast, its impossible for a single investor to substantially affect the price of any major foreign currency.

In addition, unlike any stock that is rarely traded, forex traders are able to open and close any positions within seconds, because there are always a number of willing buyers and sellers.

1. The first thing you need to do is open a forex account. You will have to fill an application form which includes a margin agreement stating if the broker will be allowed to intervene with any trade when it appears too risky. Since most trades are done using the broker's money, it is only logical that he protect his interests. However, once you have established an account, you can fund it and begin trading in the forex market.

2. Adopt a trading strategy, that has proven to be successful for you. Remember that strategies will work differently for different traders, so don't try to adopt a strategy that works well for another trader. It might backfire on you. The two available approaches are either technical analysis or fundamental analysis. A combination of the two is a more preferred choice for experienced traders.

3.Understand that prices move by trends. Forex has a popular saying, The trend is your friend. There are certain movements that have been studied over many years in order to identify a pattern in the trend. These trends need to be understood in order to understand a good trading strategy. For small accounts that are $25,000 and under, trading with a trend may help improving your odds when compared to bi-directional trading. Most newbies will look to trade in any direction, when they should be trading with a trend.

4. Ensure you know which are the top five currencies pairs in the foreign exchange. These are USD/Yen, Swiss franc/USD, Euro/Yen, Euro/USD and Pound/USD.

5. For newbies, it is advisable to maintain two accounts to ensure you learn to play the trading game. Keep one real account, one that you will actually use to trade real money; and the second account should be a demo, one that you can use to test alternative moves in the trading game. You can easily use your demo account to shadow the trades in your real account so you can widen your stops to see if you are being too conservative or not.

6. Always examine the one hour, four hour and daily charts that concern your trades. Although you can trade at 15 and 30 minute time intervals, doing so requires a handful of dexterity.

Gerald Njuguna is the owner of http://www.diamondringscare.com, a site where you can read more articles on diamonds. Visit the site to read more information on how to clean diamonds here: http://www.diamondringscare.com/clean-diamond-rings.htm Grayce Blog70187
Fionnula Blog17516

Choosing a Domain Name for Your Website

One of the first steps in building your website is choosing a domain name. There are several important things to consider when deciding on a domain name for your website.

Following are a few tips to keep in mind when selecting a new domain name:

If possible, opt for a domain name that is easily recognizable and describes your business. This will be helpful when you promote your site.

Keep your domain name as short, simple and easy to remember as possible. The shorter it is, the easier it will be to remember. Although a good number of the short and simple .com domains are likely already taken, you may have the option to purchase a domain with a different extension, like .net or .us.

Your domain name can be 2-63 characters long (excluding the extension), and can contain the characters a-z, 0-9 and '-' (dash). However, domain names cannot begin or end with '-' (dash).

If your first choice is not available, try to utilize synonyms, rearrange the words, add dashes, or use abbreviations or acronyms to find an alternative.

You now have several options to choose from for extensions as well. Following is some information about some of the extensions you can choose from:

.com denotes the word "commercial," and it is an unrestricted global domain name extension. Many businesses prefer a .com domain name because it is a highly recognized symbol for having a business presence on the Internet. However, the number of available .com domain names is shrinking as more and more businesses go online.

.net represents the word "network," and is an unrestricted global domain name extension most commonly used by Internet service providers, Web-hosting companies, or other businesses that are directly involved in the infrastructure of the Internet. Additionally, some businesses choose domain names with a .net extension for their intranet web sites.

.org represents the word "organization," and is an unrestricted global domain name extension that is primarily used for non-commercial sites. However, many commercial entities register the .org extensions corresponding to their .com domain names in order to protect their brands.

.biz is a restricted-use global domain name extension used for business web sites. As a relatively new type of domain, .biz offers a company the opportunity to get the domain name it really wants and enhance its presence on the Web with a domain name that means business.

.info is an unrestricted domain name extension that creates an opportunity to reach a worldwide audience with information about your business and ideas. .info is growing in popularity, but still has many great names available.

.us is a restricted-use country code that may be used by any individual or organization with residence in the United States or its territories, including foreign organizations that do business in the US.

What about .TV, .WS, .FM and .CC?

Although often marketed as such, .TV does not mean television and .WS does not mean web-site or world-site. .TV is the country code extension for Tuvalu a small island country located in the Western Pacific Ocean with a population of approximately 11,000 that gained independence from the UK in 1978. .WS is the country code extension for Samoa. Samoa, also in the Pacific, gained independence from New Zealand in 1962 and has a population of around 180,000.

.FM masquerades as the TLD (top level domain) for radio stations, but is actually the country code for Federated States of Micronesia. .CC is the Internet country code TLD for Cocos (Keeling) Islands, an Australian territory, but has been promoted for international registration as "the next .com".

Teresa Frady is webmaster of several sites including http://www.webmastertips.us where you can purchase domain names, learn about webhosts, view webmaster related articles, and shop for webmaster products including computers, books, software and more.Gretchen Blog68730
Geralda Blog469

Who Teaches Men How to Be Effective Lovers?

Who teaches men to be effective lovers? Until now, no one. The prevailing word in that question is effective. Almost any woman can compile a list of ineffective teachers. Most women that I have interviewed report that their male partner has few clues about how to be a consistently effective lover.

Every man has teachers. His own urge to merge provides the drive. Then he looks around for guidance in how to use that phallic power. Other boys or men will share their stories of sexual prowess. The movies and TV provide sexual images, portraying what appear to be well-received offers and action leading to sexual intercourse. Most young men (of any age) find their way to pornography. Pictures and videos provide models for sexual intercourse.

We all recognize the scene. First of all, the woman is obviously ready, willing and able. Most times a passionate kiss begins the encounter. She responds eagerly and passionately to his kiss and embrace. Both begin almost immediately to rip off each others clothing, and find an acceptable space for the man to lie on top of her. We may see a few seconds of his passionate caressing of her breasts and nipples, and then, almost immediately he is inside of her and she is moaning in ecstasy. The next scene usually shows one of them leaving the bed, either soon thereafter or early the next morning. End of one more ineffective lesson.

In spite of the prevalence of public sexual imagery, our culture remains sex-phobic and uneducated. Most women have little permission to explore the sensual riches of their own bodies or to experience the fullness of their own sexual passions. Therefore, most women are unprepared to teach their male lovers what to do. The almost mythic story of the older woman who takes the young male and teaches him the secrets of sexual intercourse remains fascinating and always a bit frowned upon.

Relationships are usually fragile. Sexual incompatibility, which adds to relationship tensions, frequently has more to do with ignorance than with poor intention. The time has come to move beyond cultural taboos to sensitive, relationship-affirming sexual education for women and for men.

Kaye Wray, Ph.D., has been a teacher and researcher for over 35 years. As a bisexual woman, she has spent most of her life paying attention to womens sensuality and sexual responses. Acquiring information both from the perspective of how a woman receives optimum sexual pleasure and of how to provide optimum sexual pleasure to a woman, she is now sharing that information with couples who are serious about improving their relationships, with women who want to claim the fullness of their own sexual passions, and with men who want to be better lovers. For more information on intimacy education, go to http://www.lovingwomenwell.com. Hyacinth Blog65676
Flossi Blog44371

A Smoothie a Day Keeps The Doctor Away?

There is a lot of press about the need for people to eat 5 portions of fruit or vegetables a day as part of a healthy diet. It is hoped that this will increase the amount of dietary fibre, vitamins and antioxidants in the body. Despite the adverts many people struggle to eat 1 piece of fresh fruit let alone 5 a day. Could the answer to consuming more fruit be in the humble smoothie ? And are smoothies necessarily good for you ?

First up, there are different types of smoothies.

A smoothie that is comprised of nothing but fruit is likely to be good for you and come close to hitting the 5 fruit a day mark. Smoothies of this sort generally include a fruit that can add a thick consistency to the drink. In this case the good old banana takes up the challenge. A banana can add thickness to the drink and a creamy taste and texture. They are also a good source of Potassium.Using bananas as a base fruit, a smoothie practitioner can experiment with nearly any type and amount of fruit imaginable. For example

Take a handful of any fresh berry fruit strawberry or raspberry
Some freshly squeezed orange juice
A couple of bananas

Cut the bananas in to smaller chunks or slices and blend all the ingredients until the mixture is a smooth, thick consistency. Pour into a glass and knock it back. Wonderful and so simple! Of course half the fun is experimenting with the quantities and types of ingredients to get your own special recipe. Why not add fresh carrot juice in place of the berries ?

If the all-fruit smoothies are the halo wearing, harp playing angels hovering above your right shoulder then the guilt inducing, trident poking devils on your left shoulder are undoubtedly the smoothies that use dairy products.

I know, I know they taste pretty darn good. A huge dollop of extra creamy ice cream, a generous dash of milk and some kind of fruit. Blend it up and you have a delicious drink.

The classic is the banana smoothie, one banana, a dash of milk and your favorite vanilla ice cream. Blend it all together and serve. Add a bit of honey or syrup if you want it a bit sweeter.

As much as a drink like this tastes great you must remember that it is probably not that good for you. In fact, smoothies that incorporate cream, ice cream , milk, honey and yogurt are not really that good for you and should be taken in moderation.

Conclusion

An all-fruit smoothie is a great way to start the day and makes it easier to have 5 pieces of fruit a day. The dairy based smoothies are best seen as a treat or indulgence and should be taken in moderation.

Maurice Canwell is a writer on Food and Drink. He is a regular contributor to http://bestsmoothierecipe.info Gaylene Blog30829
Frankie Blog70923

Bad Credit Home Mortgage Loan : Why You Should Get One Today

Buying a home is a worthwhile investment because real estate appreciates in value with time. It is also a profitable asset for raising money during emergencies. You might have postponed the decision to buy property for many reasons. May be you did not earn enough or you were wary of mortgages or just that your credit history was less than satisfactory. Even if you had problems with meeting your creditor payments, you need not be deterred from buying property because you could get a bad credit home mortgage loan.

There are several occasions when life throws up surprises or things just do not turn out exactly as you had planned. Illness in the family, layoff at workplace, divorce etc. can have adverse repercussions on your financial planning. Bills would mount as you struggle to find the money to meet them on time. These could be trying and frustrating times when you get subtle and not so subtle reminders from creditors. You could postpone your decision to invest in profitable avenues like real estate. Or you could apply for bad credit home mortgage loan to help you in the process.

Many of the mortgage lenders are usually sympathetic towards borrowers with a poor credit history. They concentrate on three main aspects for bad credit home mortgage loan. First, they study your credit history in detail to understand how you landed yourself in trouble or where your calculations were flawed. Second, they assess the value of the collateral or home that you wish to buy. Then, they match your present and future earnings potential with appropriate discounts for living expenses and other outgoings. They would then have a fair idea of how much you could bear towards the mortgage. This helps them to calculate the monthly payments.

Applying for a bad credit home mortgage loan is easy as the process is transparent and several lenders have personalized advisors to help you. Transactions are completed online. You only need to be careful in reading the fine print regarding any upfront or hidden costs.

Bad credit home mortgage loan comes handy in solving several financial worries. You could buy a house or if you have one, you could either do improvements to it or offer it as mortgage for debt consolidation or a major expenditure like child support.

Copyright © 2006 Joel Teo. All rights reserved. (You may publish this article in its entirety with the following author's information with live links only.)

Joel Teo writes on various financial topics relating to Home Mortgage Finance. Learn how you can make money today by signing up for his free online Real Estate Investing newsletter today and gain access to the Six Day Real Estate Investment Profits Course at http://www.realestateinvestment101.info/Home_Mortgage.htmlHynda Blog18199
Haily Blog62274

Bad Credit Commercial Mortgages To Serve Your Commercial Needs

Commercial mortgages are a kind of loans that can be availed for commercial purposes. You can buy commercial property; say a new building for your office or a new establishment for your business, with the help of commercial mortgages.

Commercial properties come at high prices, much higher than that of personal property. You got to have a sound bank balance to buy a commercial estate. People often go for commercial mortgages to arrange funds for buying commercial property. But those who have bad credit scores often find it difficult to look for lenders.

Bad credit problems are increasing day by day. With more and more people falling into bad credit, lenders have come up with options especially for bad credit people. These days, a number of lenders offer to look after your commercial needs.

Bad credit commercial mortgages make you available funds for purchasing a commercial property. These mortgages are a kind of secured loans, that is, the property that you buy with a bad credit commercial mortgage is automatically pledged to the lender as a security. Thus, if you do not keep up the repayments, the lender may possess your commercial edifice to make up for his loss.

Bad credit commercial mortgages have, to some extent, higher interest rates. Since lenders give due consideration to your credit score, you might as well get shorter repayment duration. But if you survey the market well in advance, you can get bad credit commercial mortgages at reasonable interest rates, by comparing the different schemes on offer.
Alexa Wilsoon is a business writer specializing in finance and credit products and has written authoritative articles on the finance industry. He has done his masters in Business Administration and is currently assisting Bad-credit-mortgage-choice as a finance specialist. For more information please visit: http://www.bad-credit-mortgage-choice.co.ukHedwig Blog36680
Helenelizabeth Blog51142

Cash In With Newspaper Clipping

Bet you never thought about this money-making opportunity! If you're looking for a decent work-at-home opportunity with good returns, why not consider starting up and operating a newspaper clipping service from home.

Newspaper clipping, although often misunderstood, is an extremely lucrative opportunity that is growing in demand and popularity. It's a very simple opportunity and can be started instantly from home with little or no cost or investment.

Not many people know about this opportunity and if you tell your family or friends that you operate a newspaper clipping service, most of them will think that you skim through newspapers looking for birth announcements, funeral announcements or wedding announcements, cut out this clipping and send it the people concerned.

In actual fact, this is only a small part of this business opportunity. The real money is in the contracts you have with corporations and institutions to provide a press clipping service. These corporations and institutions want to keep updated and be aware of any matter that is reported in the newspapers that may have a direct or indirect affect on them. Information they may want to know includes public perception of a specific product/service, competitor activities, public demand, government comment and intentions, press write-ups about the corporation, public complaints against the corporation/product or industry-related complaints, business or marketing opportunities, etc. An informed company is a successful company.

Some bigger companies have their very own research department with full time employees to undertake these activities for them on a daily basis. But there are some companies, especially the smaller ones, and non-profit organizations who outsource the work to independent individuals who perform these tasks for them from home. That's where you can fit in.

GETTING STARTED

Getting started in this venture is relatively simple and easy. Your most important piece of equipment is wait for it a pair of scissors! You'll also need a great deal of newspapers and magazines to skim through. You can buy them, if you wish, or you may simply visit your local library and use the newspapers and magazines there. You won't be able to clip items out, though, but you will be able to make copies of the relevant articles you need and clip out the required bit afterwards.

Your next step is to arrange your clippings according to the name of the company or institution mentioned. Create a file for each company/institution and file these clippings accordingly in chronological (date) order. When you have collected a sufficient amount of clippings about a specific company/institution about ten send them to the company/institution concerned with a letter. Address the entire package for the attention of the media liaison officer or director. Explain in that letter who you are and what service you perform. Offer to provide this service to them on a monthly basis and name your fee.

HOW MUCH TO CHARGE

How much you charge will naturally depend on the size of the company/institution concerned and the impact they have in public. Companies/institutions who expect to appear in the media very frequently will obviously be charged a higher rate as opposed to one that's not. As a rule of thumb, charge between $50-$100 per month, depending on the size of the company/institution concerned.

You may also expand your services for which you could charge extra. An expansion example could be to scan all the clippings into digital format with a scanner and computer. You can categorize your clippings and create a search facility. You could then offer your clients information in digital format or handle once-off requests from other interested parties. Taking the idea still further, you can even start a website and sell subscriptions for access to your database. The possibilities are endless you just need to be a little creative and do some lateral thinking.

FINDING CLIENTS

Formulate a sales brochure outlining your services, the benefits, samples of your work and a rate card. Mail these to prospective clients whose address you can find in telephone directories and your local chamber of business. Before you mail out your brochure, it is a great idea to find out beforehand the name of the person from the company/institution who would be the decision taker with such an activity. You can then address your correspondence directly to him or her. This tactic ensures that the right person reads it and not some low-level employee who won't understand the significance of your offer and may just take your letter and file it away.

A little ad on the internet or the classifieds may bring in some good prospects by telephone. Follow up these telephonic requests by mailing out the sales brochure as mentioned above.

Your best clients will come from referrals. Companies who use your services may recommend you to other companies they do business with. It is therefore imperative that you strive to render a professional, reliable service at all times. As you build up your business, you will find that a lot of companies will be approaching you directly. If you handle just ten companies and charge $100 per month, you could make an extra $1000 a month just by doing a couple hours of work per day.

Copyright (c) 2006 Anwar Ahmed Ally

Anwar Ally has been in the work at home industry for over 18 years. He is the founder of: http://www.thehomeworker.org and blogs at: http://2work-at-home.blogspot.com.Fredia Blog28148
Gwyn Blog47492

Saving On Fuel Costs For The Home

Cooking

* Covered pots or pans will boil or steam faster, allowing lower temperature settings.

* Cook outdoors, (Yes even in the winter) use a microwave oven, or prepare cold meals to avoid heating up the kitchen and adding moisture to the air. Microwaves use less than half the power of a conventional oven and cook food in about one-fourth the time.

* Use small appliances like a toaster oven or electric skillet. On average, they use half the energy of a full-size oven.

* Turn off the surface element or oven a few minutes before cooking time is up. The pot is still hot enough to continue cooking.

* Don't line oven racks with foil. It blocks the heat flow and makes the oven work harder to cook food.

* Do your heavy summer cooking in the cooler early morning or evening hours. Try to use the range top more, the oven less.

* It takes energy to heat water so use as little as possible. Most frozen or fresh vegetables can be cooked in a quarter cup of water. Even eggs will cook in this reduced amount if the pan has a tight-fitting lid.

* In the oven, cook as many dishes as possible at one time. Foods with cooking temperatures within 25 degrees can be cooked simultaneously at the same temperature.

* Preheat the oven only when necessary. Many foods don't require it. Use your self cleaning function while the oven is already hot.

* Don't peek into the oven. Each time the door is opened, the temperature drops 25 to 50 degrees.

* With stews, soups, and other foods that need long cooking times, cook in large quantities and freeze in meal-sized portions.

Use a pressure cooker. It cuts cooking time to one-third that of conventional methods. Use a pressure cooker if possible. Here's my favorite tip: If you're going to clean your oven using the self cleaning function, do it while the oven is already hot!

Laundry

Most of the energy in a washing machine is used to heat the water. Use warm or cold water when possible, and always rinse with cold water.

* Don't use more detergent than you need. Too many suds may require extra rinsing.

* Put full loads in the dryer, but don't overload. Overloading makes the machine less efficient and more costly to operate.

* Use warm or cold settings to dry, especially for permanent press clothes.

* Always keep the lint filter clean.

* Don't overdry clothes.

* The dryer will run most efficiently when drying clothes of the same thickness.

* Do two or more loads in a row. (The dryer is already hot) When possible, use an outdoor clothesline rather than a dryer. (Especially large blankets)

Heating

* Seal around areas where heat can escape such as windows, doors, bathroom vents, and chimneys. Insulate attics and walls.

* Check the manufacturer's label before insulating your water heater; set the temperature to about 120 degrees.

* Properly maintain your heating system - have it inspected and cleaned annually; replace furnace filters once a month during the heating season, or as needed.

* Clean warm-air registers, baseboard heaters, and radiators as needed; make sure furniture, carpeting and drapes do not block them.

* Reduce the thermostat setting when everyone is asleep or away from the home. Consider installing a programmable thermostat.

* Install storm windows and lock your windows to create a tighter seal; use drapes and shades at night to conserve heat.

* Close the damper on your wood stove and/or fireplace when not in use.

* Invest in energy efficient appliances. Look for appliances with the EnergyStar label.

Conservation leads to savings

Dominion Gas customers saved an average of 4-6% on their heating bills last year thanks to energy improvements and conservation methods.

When natural gas prices reached record highs in 2005, customers responded by insulating and weatherizing their homes and by turning down their thermostats to conserve energy.

The energy conservation methods worked. Even accounting for a milder-than-normal winter, many customers saved energy and money. Do the same this year. Now is a good time to prepare for the change of season by checking your home's insulation and plugging leaks to the outside.

First, check your attic insulation. If it is sparse or badly settled, consider adding more to bring it up to a minimum of R-30. Air leakage accounts for about 30% of heating expenses. Take time to patch places where heat could escape.

Use caulk or expanding spray foam to seal around popes and wires that lead from the attic or crawl space into the home.

Caulk cracks around window and door moldings, and weather-strip around door frames and at the top of the bottom of window sashes.

Also, caulk cracks around masonry fireplaces and keep the damper closed when not in use. Weather-strip and insulate attic doors and pull downs.

Under your house, put a polyethylene vapor barrier on the ground. This will keep a lit of moisture from getting into your home.

Copyright 2006 Cecilia Sherrard. Henryetta Blog80910
Ilka Blog68730

Your Vacation Domicile - Vacation Rental Home Orlando Florida

Major portion of Orlando economy is engaged in the tourist industry. And, tremendous growth has been seen in tourist industry just because of its number of tourist attraction which includes Walt Disney world, universal Orlando resort, sea world and much more than this. Orlando Florida has something for all ages. Every place has its own attraction such as Walt Disney World has Disney animal kingdom, Blizzard beach, Typhoon Lagoon and Downtown Disney. In the same manner sea world is featured with places like marine animals, amusements parks, water parks. And, much more which is very difficult to list them all. But, such adventure is important but where to accommodate carries an equal importance. As the place of accommodation must be suitable in terms of its cost and comfort level, and this is offered by only vacation rental home.

It is true that there are other alternatives available for accommodating such as hotels and motels and they are enough luxury to stay in. But the thing which matters is that though they are luxurious but they are not spacious as an Orlando Florida vacation rental home. Vacation rental home Orlando Florida beats the places like hotels as they are spacious and luxurious too.

The person can easily find different vacation rental home in Orlando Florida that is at different location and sizes. He can choose from wide range of vacation rental home as per his budget and needs.

Vacation rental home Orlando Florida is cheap and less expensive as compared to the cost involved, while accommodating at hotels. Not only the cost which matters while choosing any place of accommodation but the comfort it offers also matters.

Vacation rental home Orlando Florida offers all the amenities and environment of home such as television, DVD, laundry, dinning room, bed room, terrace and much more. The person can choose vacation rental home with or without pool as it is important element while holidaying in Orlando Florida. The cost of vacation rental home with a swimming pool varies from the home without swimming pool.

The best part of vacation rental home Orlando Florida is that the person can relax and sit as if he is in his own home. And, above that he will be not disturbed by any person without his permission. On the other hand, while staying at hotels the person is disturbed every minute by one or the other person.

Now feel home and relax while holidaying at Orlando Florida with Vacation Rental Home.

Sylvestor Johnson is offering loan and rental advice for quite some time. He is working as financial consultant for ThinkRentals. To find Vacation rental home Orlando Florida, Apartment rentals, Cabin rentals, Condo rentals, Rental homes, Vacation rentals, Beach house vacation rentals at cheap rates that best suits your needs visit http://www.thinkrentals.com.Geraldine Blog98899
Flori Blog28167

Use Success and Motivation Principles To Put The Happy Back In Your Happy Birthday

Two recent research studies have shown that you are more likely to have a heart attack on your birthday than any other day of the year. Many people view their birthday as a negative event. This article will help ensure that your birthday is a true celebration of a happy life and give you the tools to build many more happy birthdays for yourself in the future.

A 2006 article published in the Journal Neurology described a Canadian research study that tracked more that 50,000 patients and found a strong relationship between birthdays and what researchers referred to as vascular events. Another large study in New Jersey found similar results.

Having a birthday seemed to be a milestone that triggered a review of ones life.

The research suggested that the cause of the heart attacks was stress and negative emotions associated with being unhappy with where we were in life versus where we thought we should be.

So what can we do to increase our happiness on our birthday and every other day for that matter?

Probably the most important key to happiness is focusing on the positives in life. View you past as positive, view the present as positive and view the future as positive. Events are events, and it is the labels we put on them that makes all the difference. One person will look at being fired as the end of their life, and another will look at it as the chance to start doing something different.

Lighten up on yourself when judging your past and expectations for the future. The best baseball players miss 60% of the balls they swing at, famous actors miss more roles than they get, and stock market analysts pick more losers than winners. But only wins count and that is what they are paid on. So it is in your life, focus on the wins and forget about the losses. Also give yourself credit for what you have learned, if you know now that something was a mistake that means you have learned something and will do better in the future.

When I speak to groups, I do an exercise in which I ask the group to take 10 seconds and look for all the things in the room that are red. Then I ask the group to close their eyes and list all the things they saw in the room that were green. As a rule, no one can list any green items, since they were only looking for red items. Life is the same way. If we only look for problems, problems are all we will see. Conversely, if we look for positives, we will find positives.

Happiness can actually be planned; it doesnt have to just happen. Establish a goal to be happy everyday. Setting the goal to be happy plants the idea in your mind and will cause you to take steps that will lead you in that direction.

What makes you happy? Most people have lists of things that would make them happy, but they have never experienced the things on the list. On the other hand, the things that they have experienced in their lives that made them happy do not often make it onto the list. We discount our experience and pick up desires that many times are given to us by the media or other people. I urge you to take some time and write down things in your life that have brought you happiness, and ignore what others may think about the items on your list.

Perhaps it is time for you to rewrite history and also become a fortuneteller. Do a review of your life thus far and relook at those events you consider to be negatives. Can you find a more positive way to look at the event now that time has passed? Sometimes we put a label on things as being bad, when they happen, that doesnt stand up over time. You could be carrying a negative view of something that is no longer justified. Also, become your own fortuneteller and predict good things for yourself in the future. Find something that will give you hope for the future and build a view of your future based on that hope.

Focusing on happiness can give you one more reason to start figuring out what you want to do with your life and more importantly, implementing a plan to move towards what you want. Your life is an unfinished manuscript and you have a chance to write in a surprise happy ending. Just being on the path to the life you want will increase your satisfaction with life and decrease the stress factors as you move through life.

It is time to start living your dreams, not your history. Yesterday is over, and tomorrow isnt here yet. Live today and start working your plan for the future and put the Happy back in Happy Birthday.

Edward W. Smith is the author of Sixty Seconds To Success, he produces and hosts the Bright Moment cable TV and internet radio show, is president of the Bright Moment Seminars, is a motivational speaker, and publishes the free, daily, email of the One Minute Motivator (quick peak performance tip). His website is http://www.brightmoment.com and his email is edsmith@brightmoment.com. Hattie Blog24376
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Smelling The Flowers

How busy are we with our everyday life that we cannot smell the flowers anymore. Yes, to smell the flowers is just a metaphor, but it refers to a lot of things.

For example, we walk everyday on the same streets, near the same stores and people that we forget to watch them, we forget they are there. We do this automatically, we rarely stop to think. Just make a test and see for yourself: the big white house you walk by every day, what kind of windows does it have? What colors are they, whats the shape of its roof top? Does it have a chimney or not? Mmmm, you dont know, do you?

The thing is that we get so absorbed by our little problems that we forget to stop and see the big picture. I think this really depends on the level of living of each country. For example people from a poor country think about their immediate needs, like food , having a home, having someone that takes care of them. On the other hand people from a highly developed country start thinking about the planet needs, they want to Save the whales and take care of the Ozone layer, the start seeing the big picture because they dont have pressing needs to attend to.

Why dont you do something for yourself from now on? A friend of mine told me that every week she takes half a day for herself. That day is for relaxations, for doing something different, that she doesnt during the week. Change your point of view, see from another perspective, try different new activities and enjoy yourself.

I promise that you will discover new sides of yourself that you never thought you had, and that you will begin to like them. Also even if it sounds strange and you say youll never do something like going to a museum, or visiting an exposition, drawing in the park or going to dance courses, just give it a try and then judge for yourself.

Wake up, do something with your life, dont live in monotony and self sufficiency, there are so many things out there that you can try, that youll never believe how you could have missed them.

Mike Francis's home page - http://www.pegasusdirectory.com is a free portal where you can find everything you need ordered into categories.Gladys Blog65137
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A Summary of Virginia Medical Malpractice Laws

In many respects, Virginia has been more conservative about modifying the common law than its sister states. To the extent modifications have been approved, many restrict rather than expand the rights of the victims of medical negligence. For example, Virginia has adopted three major modifications of medical malpractice law: a damage cap, screening of proposed lawsuits by a medical review panel, and a state fund to compensate victims of birth-related neurological injuries. Much of the legislation specific to medical malpractice can be found in the Medical Malpractice Act, Va. Code Ann. 8.01-581.1 to 8.01-581.20.

Statutes of Limitations

All medical malpractice actions for injury (as opposed to death) must be brought within two years from the date the cause of action accrued. Va. Code Ann. 8.01-243(A). In 8.01-230, a cause of action accrues at the time of injury: the cause of action shall be deemed to accrue and the prescribed limitation period shall begin to run from the date the injury is sustained in the case of injury to the person... and not when the resulting damage is discovered.

This two-year limitation has long been applicable, and strictly enforced, in Virginia. Virginia is one of the minority states that use the date-of-the-act rule, which means that the plaintiff must file suit within two years of the date of the injury regardless of how obscure or undiscoverable the injury might have been. Exceptions to the two-year rule are (i) cases involving minors or mentally incompetent people who are in law regarded as unable to know their legal rights and (ii) cases where the injury was fraudulently concealed from the person.

The Virginia Supreme Court rejected the judicial adoption of a discovery rule, Nunnally v. Artis, 254 Va. 247, 492 S.E.2d 126, (1997), but held that continuing treatment for the same conditions tolls the statute of limitations until treatment ends. Grubbs v. Rawls, 235 Va. 607, 369 S.E.2d 683 (1988). The court defined continuous treatment as not mere continuity of a general physician-patient relationship; we mean diagnosis and treatment for the same relating illness or injuries, continuing after the alleged act of malpractice. The court acknowledged, however, the rule would not apply to a single, isolated act of malpractice. Farley v. Goode, 219 Va. 969, 252 S.E.2d 594 (1979). In other words, when an act of malpractice occurred and that physician continued to see the patient over a course of years for an unrelated condition, the rule would not apply.

In foreign object cases (surgical sponges, needles, etc.) and cases of fraud or concealment (i.e., alteration of medical records) the statute is extended to one year from the date the object or injury is discovered or reasonably should have been discovered. However, this extension is subject to a ten-year limit from the time the cause of action accrued. Va. Code Ann. 8.01-243(C).

In cases in which the health care providers negligence caused the patients death (Wrongful Death Claims), suit must be filed within two years of death. Va. Code Ann. 8.01-244(B).

If a person entitled to bring a personal action dies with no such action pending before the expiration of [the two-year] limitation period... then an action may be commenced by the decedents personal representative before the expiration of the limitation period... or within one year after his qualification as personal representative, whichever occurs later.

However, 8.01-229(B)(6) states that:

[i]f there is an interval of more than two years between the death of any person in whose favor . . . a cause of action has accrued or shall subsequently accrue and the qualification of such persons personal representative, such personal representative shall, for the purposes of [the statute], be deemed to have qualified on the last day of such two-year period.

A parent's action for medical expenses caused by injury to a minor must be brought within five years. Va. Code Ann. 8.01-243(B). A minor's medical malpractice action for injury or death must be commenced within two years from the date of the last act of negligence, unless the child is less than eight years of age, in which case the action must be brought by the child's tenth birthday. Va. Code Ann. 8.01-243.1. The Virginia Supreme Court has upheld the constitutionality of this statute. Willis v. Mullett, 263 Va. 653, 561 S.E.2d 705 (2002). Incapacity (typically a substantial mental or physical handicap) also tolls the running of the statute of limitations during the period of incapacity. Va. Code Ann. 8.01-229(A).

Contributory or Comparative Negligence

Virginia recognizes the doctrine of contributory negligence in medical malpractice cases. A plaintiff's contributory negligence may bar her recovery entirely, but the patients negligence must be concurrent with the defendant's negligence. Sawyer v. Comerci, 264 Va. 68, 563 S.E.2d 748 (2002); Ponirakis v. Choi, 262 Va. 119, 546 S.E.2d 707 (2001).

Joint and Several Liability

Virginia imposes joint and several liability on joint tortfeasors. Va. Code Ann. 8.01-443. Thus, any joint tortfeasor against whom judgment is entered is liable to the plaintiff for the entire judgment, regardless of the tortfeasor's degree or percentage of fault. For example, in a hospital setting, if the attending doctor and nurse are both negligent, then each one can be held responsible for the patients entire injury even if part of that injury was caused by the others negligence.

Vicarious Liability

Under the doctrine of respondeat superior, hospitals in Virginia are vicariously liable for the negligence of their employees but not that of independent contractors. McDonald v. Hampton Training School for Nurses, 254 Va. 79, 486 S.E.2d 299 (1997). Whether a physician should be considered an employee is a question of fact not to be determined by whether the hospital calls him one, but by the factors of selection and engagement, payment of compensation, power of dismissal, and (most importantly) power to control the physician's work. A physician's exercise of professional judgment in the performance of professional duties is a factor, but not the only factor, in deciding whether the hospital has the power to control his work. There is also authority for holding a hospital liable for the act of a physician on the theory of negligent credentialing. Stottlemyer v. Ghramm, 2001 Va. Cir. LEXIS 501 (Va. Cir. Ct. July 13, 2001)(affirmed at 2004 Va. LEXIS 99 (2004). In other wor!

ds, a hospital can be held legally responsible for granting hospital admission and treatment privileges to an unqualified physician.

Expert Testimony

Except for rare cases within the common knowledge and experience of lay jurors, expert testimony is necessary to establish the standard of care, a deviation from the standard, and the proximate cause of injury. Perdieu v. Blackstone Family Practice Center, Inc., 264 Va. 408, 568 S.E.2d 703 (2002). To testify as an expert on the standard of care a witness must demonstrate expert knowledge of the standards of the defendant's specialty and have had an active clinical practice in either the defendant's specialty, or a related field of medicine, within one year of the date of the alleged act or omission. Va. Code Ann. 8.01-581.20.

Damage Caps

Virginia imposes a cap (limit) on damages of all kinds in medical malpractice cases. For claims arising out of acts or omissions prior to August 1, 1999, the damage cap is $1 million. For acts or omissions on or after August 1, 1999, and before July 1, 2000, the cap is $1.5 million. The cap is increasing by $50,000 every July 1. Two final increases of $75,000 beginning in 2007 will bring the damage cap to $2 million for acts or omissions on or after July 1, 2008. Va. Code Ann. 8.01-581.15. The Virginia Supreme Court has twice considered this legislation and held that it does not violate the U.S. or Virginia constitutions. Pulliam v. Coastal Emergency Services, Inc., 257 Va. 1, 509 S.E.2d 307 (1999); Etheridge v. Medical Center Hospitals, 237 Va. 87, 376 S.E.2d 525 (1989).

A settlement with one defendant reduces the maximum liability of the others, because the cap limits the total amount recoverable for an injury to a patient, regardless of the number of theories or defendants. Fairfax Hospital System v. Nevitt, 249 Va. 591, 457 S.E.2d 10 (1995). This includes punitive damages. Bulala v. Boyd, 239 Va. 218, 389 S.E.2d 670 (1990). In cases arising prior to March 28, 1994, when the definition of "health care provider" was broadened in Va. Code Ann. 8.01-581.1, a physician's professional corporation may be subject to uncapped liability. Schwartz v. Brownlee, 253 Va. 159, 482 S.E.2d 827 (1997).

Virginia limits punitive damages to $350,000. Va. Code Ann. 8.01-38.1. This cap has also been determined to be constitutional by the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals. Wackenhut Applied Technologies Center, Inc. v. Sygnetron Protection Systems, Inc., 979 F.2d 980 (4th Cir. 1992).

Statutory Cap on Attorneys' Fees

There is no Virginia statute setting a limit on attorneys' fees in medical malpractice actions.

Periodic Payments

Periodic payments or structured settlements are allowed, but not required in Virginia. A settlement agreement on behalf of a disabled person, including the situation where the plaintiff is a minor (under the age of 18) involving periodic payments must be reviewed by the court and secured by a bond or insurance. Va. Code Ann. 8.01-424.

Collateral Source Rule

Virginia recognizes the collateral source rule, under which the plaintiffs receipt of collateral payments (health insurance, paid leave of absence from work, etc.) does not reduce his recovery. This protection is statutory for lost income (Va. Code Ann. 8.01-35) but the courts follow the rule for all damages in tort cases. Schickling v. Aspinall, 235 Va. 472, 369 S.E.2d 172 (1988).

Pre-Judgment Interest

In Advanced Marine Enterprises v. PRC, Inc., 256 Va. 106, 501 S.E.2d 148 (1998), which was not a malpractice case, the Virginia Supreme Court reversed an award of pre-judgment interest on the unliquidated part of the damages, stating, "Generally, prejudgment interest is not allowed on unliquidated damages in dispute between the parties." This should apply to most medical malpractice claims. However, the decision also notes that Va. Code Ann. 8.01-382 leaves the date from which interest should run to the sound discretion of the trial court. In Pulliam v. Coastal Emergency Services, Inc., 257 Va. 1, 509 S.E.2d 307 (1999), the court reversed an award of pre-judgment interest because it exceeded the damage cap, but did not comment on whether such interest should have been awarded at all. In cases where pre-judgment interest is proper, the rate is six percent. Va. Code Ann. 6.1-330.54.

Birth Injury Claims

Virginia does not have a general patient compensation fund covering all medical malpractice claims. However, the Birth-Related Neurological Injury Compensation Act (Va. Code Ann. 38.2-5000 to 38.2-5021), covers infants who suffer permanent, disabling damage to the brain or spine caused by oxygen deprivation or mechanical injury during labor, delivery, or resuscitation. This no-fault program is the exclusive remedy for such infants and their parents against participating physicians and hospitals, who must pay an annual assessment. Va. Code Ann. 38.2-5001 and 38.2-5002. A claim filed under this statute proceeds in an adversarial fashion and the Virginia Attorney General represents the Fund in opposing the infants claim.

If the claim is determined to be compensable, the Fund provides for lifetime medical expenses as well as one-half of the Virginia average weekly wage after the child reaches age eighteen. Va. Code Ann. 38.2-5009. Many hospitals and physicians choose not to participate. In cases arising prior to April 1, 2000, a participating physician's professional corporation may be sued even in cases otherwise covered exclusively by the fund. Jan Paul Fruiterman, M.D. & Associates v. Waziri, 259 Va. 540, 525 S.E.2d 552 (2000). Although the legislature promptly closed this loophole by expanding the definition of "participating physician" in Va. Code Ann. 38.2-5001, the Virginia Supreme Court declined to apply the amendment retroactively. Berner v. Mills, 265 Va. 408, 579 S.E.2d 159 (2003).

Immunities

Virginia has waived sovereign immunity in tort cases, subject to significant limitations. No claimant may recover more than $100,000 or the limits of applicable insurance, whichever is greater. In medical negligence cases, the immunity most often comes into consideration when there is a claim against the Medical College of Virginia or the University of Virginia Health System. For example, sovereign immunity has been applied to protect hospital administrators as well as surgical interns and residents at the University of Virginia Hospital. Lawhorne v. Harlan, 214 Va. 405, 200 S.E.2d 569 (1973), overruled on other grounds, First Virginia Bank v. Baker, 225 Va. 72, 301 S.E.2d 8 (1983); Hall v. Roberts, 548 F. Supp. 498 (W.D. Va. 1982). This immunity may extend to other physicians employed by the state, depending on the degree of control exercised over them, Lohr v. Larsen, 246 Va. 81, 431 S.E.2d 642, (1993), but never to independent contractors. Atkinson v. Sachno, 261 Va!

. 278, 541 S.E.2d 902 (2001). Virginia has not waived sovereign immunity for local units of government. Municipalities are immune for negligence in the performance of governmental functions, including the operation of a hospital. Edwards v. Portsmouth, 237 Va. 167, 375 S.E.2d 747 (1989) (dictum).

A charitable entity is not liable to its beneficiaries for the negligent acts of its agents if due care has been exercised in their selection and retention. Mann v. Sentara Hospitals, Inc., 59 Va. Cir. 433, 2002 Va. Cir. LEXIS 363 (2002) (discussing application of the doctrine to a medical faculty foundation). However, charitable immunity has been withdrawn from hospitals, except where a hospital renders exclusively charitable medical services, or where the patient signed an express agreement providing that all medical services would be supplied on a charitable basis. Va. Code Ann. 8.01-38.

Medical Review Panels

The Virginia Medical Malpractice Act provides for a system of medical malpractice review panels to assess the validity of medical malpractice claims. At the request of either party, the Supreme Court of Virginia appoints a panel to review the claim, consisting of two doctors, two lawyers, and a non-voting judge as chairman. Va. Code Ann. 8.01-581.2 and 8.01-581.3. The panel determines whether the evidence supports the conclusion that the health care provider failed to comply with the relevant standard of care and whether that failure proximately caused the injury. Va. Code Ann. 8.01-581.7. The findings of the panel are non-binding and the claimant has the option of filing a lawsuit after the panel has made its ruling. However, any opinion of the medical review panel is admissible as evidence in a subsequent action. Both parties have the right to call panel members, except the chairman, as witnesses. Va. Code Ann. 8.01-581.8.

Arbitration

Arbitration is a process by which potential litigants can resolve their dispute without resorting to the civil court system. In most arbitration cases, the parties agree to arbitrate their dispute after the event occurs and the claim arises. However, parties may also agree in advance of treatment to binding arbitration of any claim, so long as the patient has the option to withdraw from the agreement within 60 days after the termination of treatment. Va. Code Ann. 8.01-581.12.

Dan Frith is the founding partner of Frith Law Firm, P.C., a firm focusing on medical malpractice, nursing home abuse, and personal injury. You can view his bio at http://www.frithlawfirm.com or email him at dfrith@frithlawfirm.com.Frances Blog30629
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Cooking Is Easy As Easy Home Cooking

More On Nutrients

Do you know that nutrients are important to us? Nutrients perform specific functions in the nourishment of the body. Right!!!! Of major importance are supplying the body with the necessary calories for energy and ensuring the continuity of the vital functions. Nutrients include protein, carbohydrate, fat, minerals, vitamins and water. So to keep my promises to you, Dr Chef will elaborate more on this issue.

Taste and Aroma: The substances which stimulate the perception of taste and aroma are not vitally necessary from the nutritional standpoint; on the other hand, they are necessary for increasing the appetite and for stimulating the digestive glands.

Fiber is necessary as a preventive measure for a wide range of disease processes.

Diet is the food consumed daily by an individual or group with an emphasis on nutrient content.

Modified diets: Special regimens prescribed as measures for prevention, control and or treatment of certain disease states.

The factors above are important for maintenance of health in the human body. Daily consumption of minimum servings of important food groups and recommended allowances for essential nutrients provides the basis for balance nutrition. Other factors such as food preparation procedures affect the nutritive value of food.

There are lots of supplement food and beverages that we can find everywhere in the market nowadays. It can be found in the form of tablets, tea or coffee, powder or injection (Vitamins). DO make sure that you dont take unnecessary supplement because this will affect your healthiness.

TIP OF THE DAY

BEAN SPROUT

Normally, bean sprout are easier to be blistered/smelly, so to avoid this, put it in a container soak with water (1kg bean sprout) and add one or two spoonful of vinegar. This will make it last longer and crispy..

From the back desk,

Dr. Chef

Dr. Chef, Webmaster for http://www.easy-home-cooking.com .Dr. Chef has been a chef in hotel around the world.From China to India, Middle East to South Africa and Canada to Australia. Now retired as a chef and doing a consultant company in restaurant and hotel business in south East-asia.Glynnis Blog26284
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