I travel full time all over in my RV and learn a lot of travel tips. It is just amazing the things you learn from other people. The resort I am in right now is on the Colorado River. It has two swimming pools, two hot tubs and a bar in the middle.When your not enjoying boating or playing on your jet ski in the river, then your down at the pool or maybe even at the bar. One thing we all do, is get together at the hot tube in the evenings. It really is amazing what you learn in the hot tub.Here is a few travel tips that I thought was worth sharing.Bite By A Rattle SnakeThis seventy year old told us a story about when he was seven. He was bit by a rattle snake in the leg. Someone took a dead chicken and tied it around his leg, he did not have to go to the hospital or take any shots. And of course he is alive today because of it.Apparently the blood from the chicken sucked out the poison from the snake. One problem, the only thing around here are ducks, I do not think I want to try using a duck, but I am going to avoid going where the rattle snakes are anyway.A Bowl of SugarThe next story I heard was from this lady. She said she was cutting up some potatoes and sliced her finger really bad. Her friend grabbed her hand and stuck it in a bowl of sugar. Yes pure white granulated sugar. She said the pain was gone instantly, they wrapped up her finger and she did not have to go to the doctors at all, it healed up just fine. I know I am going to keep my sugar handy from now on.No More Leg CrampsOne last tip. My husband use to get leg cramps every night. Someone told him to start taking apple cider vinegar. I did some searching on the internet and found that Braggs was the best. So we went and bought Braggs Apple Cider Vinegar with the mothers in it. My husband took two teaspoons three times a day, and that night for the first time, he had no leg cramps.We have been taking apple cider vinegar for about a year now. My husband has never had a leg cramp again, and he is now off of his blood pressure medicine. It is also a great detoxifier. Do your own search for Braggs apple cider vinegar. It has quit a history behind it and what it is good for.What ever you do, do NOT stop taking your medications with out your doctors approval.I hope these RV Travel Tips have been helpful for you as they have for me.
Home Buying: Now or Wait?
Other than the fact that it just seems like “the thing to do” or everyone says you should, you must think about your proposed home buying in a way separate from preconception and emotion. Even though you may have heard that buying a home is the best investment you’ll ever make, is it possible that this is just wrong?The stability and comfort that come from home ownership are important in ways that are not strictly measured by finances. You may be excited by the prospect of transforming a house into your personal and individual sanctuary and playground. You may even be prepared to spend some time on household chores that you now spend socializing. Be aware that the financial advantages of home ownership are frequently exaggerated.But this is a win-win situation isn’t it? I have to live somewhere, so instead of paying rent I will acquire a valuable asset that becomes a built in savings account that constantly appreciates. My profits if I sell will be Capital-Gains tax free. Is it all really so simple?I get to deduct the interest from my income taxes. I can control the costs because rent can go up but my mortgage will not. I suppose property taxes, insurance and maintenance can go up with time, but probably not by much. Am I missing something here? Buying their home is something most adults do most people think but it is not always that simple.Do you have the cash? How is your credit score? Can you prove sufficient income for the last two years to handle the mortgage? You must take a hard look at your own financial situation in the same way that your mortgage lender will. Consider also:Do I want to commit to living here long term? If you don’t want to stay at least 5 years it may not be worth it.
How is my job security?
Is the proposed home centrally located to job, amusements, shopping, church and schools to make my life easier?
Is there a higher cost of living in this area?
Do I like this home for the right reasons? Can I afford it?In many cases it is a wise decision. In other cases it may be wiser to wait. Let us examine some of the factors that should go into your analysis of whether this is the right decision for you at this particular point in time or at some time in the near future. Do not let anyone pressure you into thinking there is a rush to get in now.Bear in mind at all times that, although interest rates are attractive,Prices are not expected to really hit bottom for years to come.
Prices will bounce along stagnant for more years
There is a lot of inventory out there with an aging population ready to downsize and put even more on the market.
Banks have an oversupply of foreclosures waiting to hit the market
How Our Lifestyle Choices Are Causing Us to Sink Into Chronic Illness
Current science continues to demonstrate that the reason we move away from health and develop chronic illness is due to our environment rather than our genes. Less than 1% of chronic illness is truly genetic in nature. Essentially, this means that chronic illness is preventable.
Yet over half of the American population has been diagnosed with a chronic illness and nearly 80% of all health care spending (doctors’ visits, prescriptions, hospitalizations, etc.) is a result of these conditions of lifestyle.
This number is expected to rise astronomically over the next few years. In fact, many say this single problem will bankrupt our nation. Interesting. It’s particularly interesting since science tells us this is completely preventable!
What are chronic illnesses? The list includes conditions such as cancer, heart disease, diabetes, obesity, depression, infertility, autoimmune issues and disorders, Alzheimer’s, dementia, chronic fatigue, chronic pain, acid reflux, constipation, insomnia, decreased sex drive, and so on.
With a list this expansive, it’s hard to imagine how we could possibly prevent these conditions from developing in the first place. They seem so unrelated. In order to understand our role in preventing chronic illness, first we must have a simple understanding of how chronic illness develops as a result of our environment.
To explain how our lifestyle and environment relates to chronic illness, I’d like to share with you a visual that Dr. James Chestnut, B.Ed., M.Sc.,D.C.,C.C.W.P. of The Wellness Practice in Victoria, B.C. teaches. Imagine that when your life begins you are born into a pool of water. You have two items on you: inflatable water wings and an empty backpack.
Your water wings have been inflated for you, but they have a very slow leak. The air in them is expected to last 120 years (the “healthy” human lifespan). As the air leaks out of them, you have less time left. It’s called getting older! If there’s no interference to these water wings, they’ll last you all 120 years.
Each time you make a lifestyle choice that is incongruent with your innate genetic requirements for health, you add a “rock” to your backpack. Our blueprint for health and optimal function requires purity and sufficiency in the way we eat, move and think. This means, giving our bodies exactly what’s required for optimal health (purity) and providing enough of it (sufficiency).
No where in our blueprint for optimal function do we find toxic and deficient choices of lifestyle. Toxicity and deficiency are incongruent with homeostatic cell function. Therefore, it’s these toxic and deficient choices that become the rocks in your backpack.
These rocks (stressors) can come from any area of lifestyle: poor nutritional choices, sedentary living, being overweight, being chronically stressed out, having unhealthy relationships, taking toxic drugs, not feeling loved or appreciated, excessive negative stimuli, having poor posture, smoking or exposure to smoke, not enough time outside, and so on.
So many of our toxic and deficient lifestyle choices are the direct result of an industrialized, “advanced” society. It’s hard to argue that we’re “advanced” in the area of health and wellness when we’re experiencing drastic increases in chronic illness in all age groups, despite our “advanced” efforts to treat these conditions.
The rocks slowly sink us. They have a cumulative effect on our health over the years. At first, we may not notice. Eventually, we may realize that our day to day life has become more stressful and more of a struggle. Often, we’re not even sure how or when this happened.
There isn’t a drug on the planet that can remove the rocks for you! That’s why treating the symptoms, or the effects of these rocks, is unsuccessful in terms of fixing the real problem. The drugs, in fact, can become yet another toxic rock. (Just listen to the side effects on any drug commercial!) Removing body parts doesn’t fare much better in solving the problem. We’re not sinking because of a lack of drugs or too many body parts! The body isn’t ‘stupid’. It’s displaying a perfectly normal physiological adaptation to an environmental stressor.
The rocks have another effect on your overall health picture. As more rocks are added to your backpack and you sink increasingly lower, the pressure on your water wings is increased, forcing the air to escape at a faster rate. You lose your years of life faster than originally intended… you age faster.
It’s these incongruent lifestyle choices, or stressors, that are the catalyst for chronic illness. These toxic and deficient choices result in what’s known as our allostatic load. A chronic allostatic load, as a result of months and years of incongruent lifestyle choices, changes our genetic expression, our cellular function, our physiology, our biology, our entire internal environment, and ultimately our expression of health. This is how chronic illness develops.
It becomes self-evident that the way to restore health is to remove rocks from your backpack, thus reducing pressure on your water wings!
Ultimately, this means reducing our toxic and deficient choices while increasing pure and sufficient choices. This changes our environment and changes the expression of our genetics. This is the science of Epigenetics – how our environment determines the expression of our genetic code.
Thankfully, science has shown us the blueprint. We do know what choices move us toward health. We can fix the problem. Adopting a lifestyle similar to our earlier (and healthier) ancestors is the most successful way to meet our innate genetic requirements for health and wellness while preventing chronic illness.
Note: Once again, the concepts in this article are attributed to Dr. James Chestnut, B.Ed, M.Sc, D.C., C.C.W.P.
A Look at the Three Primary Web Video Styles
As of late, many companies and organizations that have expanded their marketing strategies to the internet have begun to take serious interest in the production of web videos. With the recent shift to web videos as a source of entertainment for many, promoters and businesses alike have begun to recognize the true value offered by web video marketing as a means of tapping into this flourishing market. With web videos quickly becoming a crucial aspect of any well-rounded marketing strategy, the competition has begun, with organizations striving to produce the highest quality videos that will be able to top search engine rankings, draw in a vast number of viewers, and translate those views into sales. However, before a video can go into production a decision must first be made about what type of video is going to be used. The three primary video styles are viral videos, conversion videos, and tutorial/educational videos.
The recent growth of YouTube – which now clocks in over four billion video views daily – along with the current boom in social media networking, has brought about the birth of viral videos. It has become one of the ultimate goals of almost all web videos to achieve viral status. This, however, is difficult as there is no strict formula or standard by which to determine a video’s likelihood of going viral. The two most defining factors that can be seen in most viral videos are originality and a tendency towards humor, while the content or subject matter remain as varied and far reaching as it is possible to be.
Companies attempting to use viral videos should begin by uploading and sharing their videos through various video hosting and social media sites to initiate the spread. Some companies claim to be able to bolster the chances of videos reaching viral status through the use of analytical technologies that help identify the ideal placement and distribution of a video to reach the right audience. However, whatever methods may be used to push for viral status, in the end there is still a degree of luck involved. Also, you should always keep that the number of achieved is not the ultimate goal of your videos, rather than the number of sales leads that are generated by these views.
As opposed to the happenchance methods of viral videos, conversion videos are a far more reliable, and work most effectively when embedded in the front page of an organization’s website. Properly executed, conversion videos snare the audience’s attention right away and works in various roles. Conversion videos can be used to inform the viewer of the company’s products and services, let them know of any current deals and offers, and function as a spokesperson and guide to help the visitor navigate the site. Therefore, for a conversion video to work effectively it must contain a clear call to action and be persuasive in its message, in order to convert visitors into customers. Another benefit of the conversion video is that its level of success is easily measurable by comparing your number of visitors to sales.
Tutorial and educational videos are also important options to take into consideration when developing your video marketing campaign. These types of videos are best used to illustrate the products and services being offered by the company, and are therefore most ideally placed within the company’s website.
Work From Home Employment
Work from home employment opportunities are everywhere you turn. There are thousands of ads all across the internet claiming that you can make a lot of money working from home with very little working hours needed. Newspapers and billboards portray the same message and everyone seems to desire an opportunity such as this.Working from home has a great number of benefits that certainly make it worth while. You can be your own boss, set your own hours and possibly do something that you even enjoy doing. You can cut out the worries of paying a babysitter if you are a parent who works from home and you will even have the option to have more time for your family by working your own hours.There are the pitfalls to working at home as well. A great number of people who work from home find that they must work just as hard, if not harder, to make a decent income. There is typically no health benefits involved and certainly no paid vacation time. Depending on what type of work from home employment you seek there may be fees involved to start your business. All of these can factor in as major setbacks for anyone considering work from home employment.It is hard to find legitimate work from home opportunities with the numerous scams circulating around trying to draw in victims desperate enough to make a large amount of income. Anything that involves giving away bank account information as well as paying an upfront fee is typically a scam. Unless you are looking to start your own business such as an online eBay store, daycare or any other home business, you should never pay any fees to online job opportunities.The best job opportunities available are available for freelancers. You can market your skills, such as web design, and find someone who needs your services to pay you for your work. Writing articles has also become a popular freelance opportunity and there are enough companies who are willing to pay you legitimately as long as you are willing to invest the amount of time it takes to make a decent income from home. There are a few telemarketing companies which offer at home employment. Some of them may offer medical benefits and a good hourly pay but you have to be willing to pay the fees for the needed equipment.Work from home employment is a great way to go considering the benefits but you should always do your homework before accepting any offer. Research the company online to find out what others have to say about it and whether or not they really pay. Search the Better Business Bureau to find out if they are rated on there and whether or not they are rated as a good or bad company. With the right amount of time and research working from home may be the best opportunity for you.
Health and Fitness Tips for Women Over 50
How do you define “old”? Reaching a certain physical age does not mean you’re old, and growing old certainly does not mean you’re useless. Unfortunately, in our culture we get many signals that reinforce messages that aging is bad, and many middle-aged adults think this way.Most middle-aged adults need to pay more attention to their health than they did when they were younger. Research shows that most diseases that afflict women in their 50s involve health factors you have some control over, along with nutritional deficits. To promote a healthy lifestyle and reduce your risk of disease, make sure you are doing basic preventive care focusing on stabilizing your blood pressure, controlling your cholesterol levels and getting periodic diabetes screenings.Regular exercise in women over 50 years old helps to decrease menopausal symptoms, including hot flashes, mood swings, sleep disorders and joint pain. Regular exercise also reduces the risk for cardiac illnesses, helps prevent osteoporosis and diabetes, and aids in weight control and maintenance.Here are some health and fitness tips for women over 50:Exercise. According to Cedric Bryant, PhD, chief science officer for the American Council on Exercise, daily exercise by women over 50 helps the body function better. Active exercise helps to avoid or delay the natural process of the body’s systems becoming more inefficient as you age. An ideal fitness program for women over 50 should include aerobic, strength and stretching exercise routines.Keep Moving. According to research, there are many health benefits women realize from moving regularly, and a growing body of research shows the serious health implications of being sedentary, including complications such as diabetes. At a minimum, you should be able to conduct your daily living activities easily and pain-free. Something as simple as taking a few extra steps each day can help reduce the risk of illness, and you can easily track your steps using a pedometer.Increase Calcium Intake. It is common knowledge that calcium is a significant factor in the growth and development of the bones. Research shows that women over 50 years of age are prone to osteoporosis, a condition where there is a deficient level of calcium in the body, making the bones porous and weak. This can lead to an overall degradation of the skeletal system, including broken bones that can result in hospitalization and serious complications. To help prevent osteoporosis, increase your calcium intake, which can promote bone formation and help strengthen your bones.Increase Fiber Intake. Fiber-rich foods in your diet provide a feeling of fullness and can help prevent you from eating too much, which can help avoid weight gain and facilitate weight loss. According to research, the onset of obesity is common at 50 and beyond. Being overweight poses myriad health threats, especially to women. Complications related to obesity include diabetes mellitus, atherosclerosis and hypertension. Fiber can also help to reduce cholesterol levels, and studies have shown that consuming at least 10 grams of fiber a day decreases the risk of having heart problems.Count Calories. As we age, every system in the body works less efficiently, and this can have an impact on the energy levels of women over 50 years of age. One significant issue of women at this age is not paying attention to their daily food intake. Many of us have the tendency to eat whatever food we feel like eating, and without paying attention to what we consume can lead to over-eating and weight gain. Research says that active women above 50 should limit their calorie intake to 1,900 kcal per day. This general guideline is designed to provide just enough calories to maintain a high energy level throughout the day.
Wedding Digital Photography – How to Do the Best Job Possible
So you’ve been asked to take the photos at your friend’s wedding. You’ve tried to persuade them to hire a professional, but they are happy with you. Don’t panic, they asked you because they like your style. Wedding digital photography is no different from other photography, but there a few things you need to consider when planning for the big day.Turn off the sound on camera – there is nothing worse than the sound of electronic beeping during a solemn moment.Take more photos. A perfect moment will only happen once so don’t stint on the number of photos you take, this is one occasion when less is definitely not more. And don’t automatically discard shot you don’t think is good enough. Judicial cropping or editing may capture a moment you didn’t expect. The blurred shot of the flower girl – maybe there is an artistic photo here. Stand back and objectively (or perhaps subjectively) evaluate each shot for its own merits.Be prepared! Make sure you have spare batteries and multiple memory cards. Know the wedding venues and times. Check out places where you will be able to stand during the ceremony. Think about the shots the bride and groom will want of their big occasion and how you can move between them during the proceedings. The same applies to the reception venue. It is important to know where the speeches will be given and where the dancing will take place. When checking for locations for posed shots think about the background and places you can get good group shots of the entire wedding party.Be comfortable with the operation of your camera. A wedding is a busy event and at times a quite stressful one. There will be little opportunity to repose or reshoot if you hesitate with a shot. One option to reduce stress on you the photographer is to have an assistant. This could be someone nominated from the happy couple or someone you organise yourself. This person can spend time rustling people into groups, setting up shots and generally keeping things moving. This will leave you free to concentrate on the wonderful and flexible shots that come from wedding digital photography.Think about using the continuous shooting mode that your digital camera has. This will allow you to capture a second shot after the main shot has been taken. Sometimes you can just guarantee everyone will have their eyes open and be smiling one second after the shot is taken – don’t miss that opportunity.Weddings are a celebration. Make sure you cover off the tips above and your contribution to the day will be priceless.
Ready, Set, and Get Auto Insurance Quotes For You and Your Car
Riding a car is riskier than riding an airplane. An average of about 36,000 fatal car accidents recorded each year since 2000; this keeps the casualties of car accidents in high figures. The car’s vulnerability to be involved in accidents records about 100 cases of car accidents a day. This simple reason makes car insurance a requirement in each car or all kinds of vehicles.Car insurance is often mistakenly seen as a useless cost for unnecessary requirement. On the other hand, it is an investment for something that might happen unexpectedly. It covers unexpected accident damages to people, property, and for vehicles repairs and sometimes upgrades.Each car insurance company offers various auto insurance quotes depending on the vehicle type, purpose and risks to provide suitable service to different specific types of vehicles and drivers. There are car insurances specifically made for women, young drivers, senior citizens and high-risk drivers. In addition, there are also specialized car insurances such as truck insurance, motorcycle insurance, automobile insurance and other budget insurance quotes offered cheap and affordable.Insurance quotes are now also available in the internet. There are various auto insurance companies that offer online service and transactions for easier insurance purchasing. Plus, it is now easy to compare insurance rates from different companies.There are many cheap insurance quotes available over the internet. With many prices and services to compare and to choose from, information about insurance companies, and tips from reliable car insurance experts, you cannot go wrong in choosing the car insurance that is just right for you.Most people have apprehensions with cheap insurance due to many cases of fraud among insurance programs and companies. However, there are really cheap insurance offers from stable and reliable car insurance companies. Many auto insurance companies offer discounts to drivers with clean traffic violation records. The drivers driving attitude is a key factor in getting low cost auto insurance from dependable auto insurance companies. Other insurance companies also offer promos and or give off free auto insurance quotes.Auto insurance is an investment for a peaceful and worry-free driving anytime and anywhere. It gives the driver the peace of mind that whatever happens, everything will be taken cared of. Aside from the actual financial assistance for covering the damages in case of collision or accident, it also covers damages caused by theft and other circumstances depending on the insurance transactions.There are infinite reasons and benefits from auto insurances. Get one that suites you and your car.
Automotive Biometrics – The Trending Growth and Implementation in the Automobile Industry
Application of biometrics in the automobile industry is not recent news; it has been in use for the past few years. However, with the advent of technological developments, the automobile industry has been quite busy in experimenting with automotive biometrics. Biometrics system in vehicles provides accurate and maximum protection to every vehicle owner against hacking or theft. This technology employs multi-factor authentication. In most cases, the two-factor authentication system is implemented. Moreover, the focus is primarily placed on the accessibility of the vehicle, immobilizer, health monitoring, and switch ignition via fingerprints.The automobile industry is quite upbeat in embracing innovative technologies which are convenient and user-friendly to provide the feel of luxury to their customers. Strengthening a vehicle’s security while ensuring customers’ safety is one of the main concerns of the automakers. Automakers, especially the leading ones in the market have been incorporating automotive biometrics technology in their auto-parts. No wonder the automotive biometrics market is growing at a fast rate and the trend seems like it will stay strong in the foreseeable future.Automotive Biometrics growth driversThere are several factors influencing the growth of this market. Immobilizer may be considered to be a major growth driver boosting the market. Another trend which drives the market is the installation of connected devices required for autonomous driving. Moreover, the stringent government regulations regarding the concern for vehicles security further propel this technology market. As per the recent market research reports the Automotive End-Point Authentication Market is poised towards a major growth phase. Geographically, the Automotive Biometrics Market is divided into global regions like Europe, North America, Asia-Pacific, Middle East, LATAM, and Africa. Amongst all these regions, the European region has seen the highest growth.Know more about the Automotive End-Point Authentication MarketThe Automotive End-Point Authentication is a new technology gaining prominence in the automobile sector. It protects the user against damage and theft of their vehicles, along with a vast array of benefits such as navigation, and door lock status. The recent Automotive End-Point Authentication Market informs us about the market growth due to the robust demand for electric and hybrid vehicles. Furthermore, with the foray into smartphones, the market sees a huge growth in the requirement for assistance featured cars.Key players in the Automotive End-Point Authentication MarketSome of the major industry players in this market include companies like Continental AG, Fujitsu, Garmin Ltd., Hitachi Ltd., Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., Symantec Corporation, Synoptics Incorporated, and others.
Educating for Impending Careers
The vast majority of us in the United States were educated as children and young adults so that we could succeed both as citizens sustaining our democratic way of life and as productive workers able to sustain ourselves and our families economically. For the most part the combination of public and private K-12 schools and higher education universities and colleges have served us quite well. We are by and large a well educated and constructive populace.But can we rely on the old-school methodologies to sustain us for a world of work that will be characterized as mercurial and erratic calling for agility, adaptability, and rapid evolution? There is reason to think not. An economy that is experiencing increased speed and transformation will not be well served by an educational structure and model designed to prepare students for a relatively static and predictable work world.Let’s examine the existing paradigm that traditionally and currently defines most American high schools and colleges. There are two patterns at play based on the concepts of liberal education and career-focused education. By the time a student reaches high school they select or have selected for them one of these persuasions or the other.Liberal (or liberal arts) education refers to an approach that encourages a broad and diverse exposure to fundamental and diverse subject matter with the goal being to educate a student for a complex world requiring a variety of perspectives, skills, and areas of knowledge. When and if college is reached the student fits into this mix a concentrated focus in one or more disciplines.A career-focused or vocational path on the other hand focuses much more on preparing the student for a relevant job that is in demand in the workforce. Breadth gives way to depth in that a craft or skill set demonstrably employable is chosen, studied, and eventually mastered by the student.To be clear I am not suggesting that there is anything fundamentally wrong with these models. My concern is in the traditional modes of delivery of them. We are still under the assumption that a high school diploma and / or college degree program that terminates upon graduation is enough to provide a student for a lifetime career. It used to be, but projections are that it won’t be enough going forward.The workplace and its career needs are becoming increasingly digitized and globalized, resulting in an urgency for malleable, resilient, and entrepreneurial workers to address the ever vibrant economic demands across the planet. To maintain these attributes workers will need to accept and embrace continuous lifelong learning, upskilling, and training to keep up and stay ahead. Schooling will never end. In fact it will become an integral and ongoing part of any advantageous job worth having for most.We will likely see a time when liberal and career-focused methods become more of an as-needed hybrid with a greater proliferation of skill and knowledge-based certification and training programs not necessarily tied to slow moving traditional education settings. Students, employees, and educators will begin migrating more intentionally into online, virtual, and yes, brick & mortar learning facilities that offer the highest quality, data driven, short and long-term instruction essential to the requirements of the emerging economy.As an educator myself with 31 years in public schools and 5 years as a part time college adjunct I can say with some certainty that this industry will not on its own move in this direction without a lot of resistance. There are many entrenched interests compelled to resist such changes. A more responsive and pragmatic instructional delivery will likely arise from a combination of innovative educators and demanding students and employees requiring relevant reactive instruction.However we can all begin by getting our heads around the concept of lifelong learning. I predict it will be far more energizing than draining.