Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Love Your Garbage Disposal And It Will Love You Back

Is not Technology just the grandest thing? There was a time that all of your left over food scraps would go to the hogs. Of course since we have moved into suburbia and we are not a society of farmers anymore we have to do something with the left over food scraps. Lets face they really mess up those pretty plastic trash cans and who has time to hose those out like my father and his father before him did.

So bam some smart person figured we ought to have a garbage disposal built into our sinks right inside the home. No it is not like the Flintstones and their dino garbage disposal this is a purely mechanical machine.

I want to share some tips on how you might better take care of your disposal.

First and foremost make sure that dishes and utensils are not in the sink when running the disposal. The disposal needs cold water at all times dishes can block the flow of water as well as foods to the disposal. Utensils will wind up in the disposal. I have seen many a spoon mangled. (Do not stick your hand in to remove the utensil while the disposal is running) It is important to put the food to be disposed of, into the disposal slowly. Cramming the food down the disposal will only cause it to stop working correctly. It is not a good idea to put fat from meat or liquid grease or fat down your garbage disposal either both can cause the disposal to become plugged requiring you or a very expensive plumber to take the plumbing apart and clean out the plug in order to get the disposal running properly.

Putting large bones down the disposal (like those of recently deceased someone) is a very bad idea, but you can put small bones down they will help to clean the inside of your disposal.

Unless you are running a commercial restaurant disposal you should not allow the garbage to build up in the disposal instead run and rinse the disposal every time you put garbage in it, the cheaper disposals will corrode from food sitting in them for extended periods of time.

If you think your disposal sounds odd it probably means there is a foreign object like your car keys, (Bless little Johnnies heart he just did not know what he was doing). Turn off the disposal look under the sink to see how the disposal is plugged in if it is a regular pug then unplug it. Obviously, if you can not see a plug than you should find a way to cover or block access to the switch for your garbage disposal while your hands are in it. You may want to stick something other than your hands in the disposal at first just assure your self there are now monsters a broom handle works great of course the broom handle can help with freeing the disposal, stick the handle end into the disposal and stir the disposal to get it moving again. Since we are still looking for those keys, reach in to the disposal (take off important jewelry) feel around in there for something unusual like the alarm fob or what is left of it, to your Lexus. Remove all the pieces you can find. Plug the disposal back in turn on the water and turn on the disposal there may a small noise but it should fade as the last pieces of your charm disappear. Sometimes the disposal will completely lock up causing it shut off. Some models come with a switch on the bottom of the disposal the will trip instead of allowing the disposal to burn up. Once again after you have removed any possible obstruction push the switch in and the disposal should reset and be ready to run.

It is OK to run hot water down the disposal when it is not running.

Certified Nursing Assistant Online Courses

If you have ever considered working in the medical profession, then you should start with certified nursing assistant online courses. You will receive a certificate which will allow you study for a degree on the internet at the comfort of your own home.

Studying for a CNA is truly the best experience as you can continue to work at the same time as studying at home. In fact, it is possible to obtain your degree without attending a classroom as long as you have access to an internet connection.

As a qualified nursing assistant, you are expected to provide ongoing care for elderly patients in hospitals or care homes under the supervision of other medical staff. Your duties will include feeding, bathing, dressing and giving medications to the patient.

One of the great advantages of studying online for a degree is that no matter where you have learned it, you can still find gainful employment in the medical field. Obtaining a certificate is essential as it will allow you to progress in the health sector and become a doctor after a few more years of study.

The internet based classes are occasionally held by local colleges too. It is highly recommended to first determine which program is the right one for you before committing to one. The second factor is to ensure that the certificate offered by the school is recognized in your state.

These online programs are ideal for busy students or those who wish to keep their day jobs or work on their own schedules. It is a convenient way to fulfill your long term dreams of working in a rewarding profession without losing your current job. Once you have determined that the certified nursing assistant programs are for you, you are just a few clicks away from enrolling and starting your course.

Hitting Mechanics - 400 Swings Per Hour

I recently posted the details about hitting fundamentals (stance, loading, bat speed generation, swing, follow through) and the feedback was pretty consistent. "Great description, but where are the drills to perfect the swing!" Truth be told, the drills we do can be found all over the web. The secret sauce is not in some special new drill, but in organizing the hitting practice to maximize the fundamentally correct swings to develop proper muscle memory.

Before I put together the 60 minutes of drills, let me reiterate that perfect practice makes perfect play. If the players are not swinging with correct fundamentals all they are doing is reinforcing bad muscle memory. Bad muscle memory means there will be "holes" in the swing, which translates into offensive outs and player frustration. Perfect practice creates good muscle memory that means more hard hit balls.

What we do is set up six different hitting stations around the field and divide the team into six groups (try to keep only two players per group). To get 400 swings in 60 minutes using six stations for one hour allocates 10 minutes per station. The pitching machine station can only provide about 40 swings in the allotted time. This leaves us with 360 swings for 5 stations; therefore, you must average 72 perfect swings per station per player.

Here are some example stations:

1. Overload / Underload practice swings: 5 sets of 10 overload and 10 underload = 100 swings focused on bat speed. Practice swings without a ball develops a good fundamental swing with good balance.

2. Pitch location tee work: 2 sets of 10 inside, 10 middle, and 10 outside = 60 swings focused on hitting location and driving the ball to all fields. Working off a tee adds the element of hitting the ball without ball movement so the batter can focus on another element, in this case driving the ball to all fields. By removing the ball movement a batter can develop good balance and contact point location to be able to hit to all fields.

3. Semicircle soft toss: coach soft tosses 10 balls from the front, 10 from the side, 10 from behind, 10 from the side, and 10 from the front = 50 swings focused on hitting the center of the ball. Coach soft toss adds the element of a slow moving ball with the batter focusing on hitting the center of the ball at the contact point for line drives into the outfield.

4. One handed tee work: 3 sets of 10 front hand only and 10 back hand only = 60 swings focused on hand movement through the hitting zone. The front hand guides the bat through the hitting zone while the back hand provides the power to the swing. This drill isolates the hand movement through the hitting zone.

5. Wiffle ball short toss: 3 sets of 10 inside, 10 middle, and 10 outside = 90 swings focused on putting the whole swing together but with the ball moving at a slower speed than during the game. At a short distance, the coach can locate the pitch at different positions within the strike zone to provide additional batting practice for hitting to all fields.

6. Batting practice off a machine: 40 swings focused on timing the swing. By mixing up machine balls from different manufactures, the ball movement and speed are slightly varied to simulate different pitcher's ball movement. It is very difficult to teach hitting mechanics off a machine, but can be very effective with batter timing.

There is nothing special about this set of stations other than you can get a lot of swings very quickly and isolate the individual hitting mechanics. We will use different station drills throughout the season to provide variety and work on specific skills.

What I want to encourage is that you, as a coach, think about how to maximize the number of swings per practice by sub-dividing the players into smaller groups and use multiple hitting stations. What drills do you know that fall into these broad categories? Okay, switch them in for variety.

Translation of Italian Recipes: Localization?

Translation - Translation is mostly about the conversion of a document from one language to another. The document is kept as it was originally intended and written, therefore having the same meaning.

Localization - Then translation may involve localization. This is when the translation is completed 'and' adjusted for the target audience. The meaning remains.

Now let's talk about Italian food. Generally when I want to try an Italian recipe, I look for a version from where the recipe is from. Why? Because recipes get localized too!

The Italian people keep to strict recipes. They also know that certain regions of the country are best for certain foods. For instance Naples for Pizza and Genoa for Focaccia.

So why do any recipes get localised?

4 Reasons for Recipe Localization

1) To meet the tastes of the new market - The original blend of flavours is not quite to the tastes of the country where it has been adopted.

2) Unable to find the ingredients - Maybe the ingredients just do not exist in the new country. Or maybe they are prohibitively expensive.

3) Unable to obtain the ingredients with the same flavours - The meat is not as salty perhaps?

4) Time - Let's face it; people are always looking for ways to make things faster and easier.

Italian recipes are not designed to be speeded up. The pasta should often be 'al dente' not stodgy like in a Pizza Hut. Italian food is generally a few simple 'good quality' ingredients. It's the quality of those ingredients, the ability of the chef and of course the pallet of the consumer that make the difference.

For me, the localization of recipes should only be carried out if you are unable to find the ingredients required and then it becomes a different dish. The Indian dish 'Chicken Tikka Marsala' is a good example. It was created from the available ingredients 25 years ago in Birmingham. Not a localization of an existing dish. Ironically, the dish can now be found in restaurants in India.

I believe that recipe translation is all that is generally required. So the next time you are searching the web for a recipe, please consider whether you want to search a little harder and try the real recipe.

For more information visit http://www.axistranslations.com

Some Points On Home Flipping

Alright, so the multitude of TV shows about home flipping have worked you into a massive money inspired home renovation craze. No problem, just stop frothing at the mouth over the prospective money and realize that some REALLY careful planning is required to make this process work for you. On the TV shows of course the homes are going to be purchased, after all, they have featured on a national TV show right? Nothing will attract buyers and interest like a bunch of television cameras.

So without national TV coverage you are going to have to be smart about home flipping. Start planning long before you even look at homes. You should have the whole process outlined and the funding in place before you even make a preliminary offer on anything, Now, when considering how the repairs and renovations to the home will be made. If you are doing them yourself, make sure that you have enough time built into the schedule to allow for the completion of everything you need to do. If you are contracting the work, make sure that you have quite a few bids and take the one that can guarantee their work and their end date. Nothing is worse then having contractors put your job off to finish others. You should be able to agree on a finishing date for your project, in fact, you should write it into the contract that you will have with the builder.

Stick to your plan as the renos progress, maybe try listing the home earlier on in the process. It is possible to get good offers before the upgrades are complete. Remember that your bottom line has to justify the time, effort and money that you have put into the home. If it does not, you will operating at a loss and the whole point of this process is lost. Try to plan out your total expenditures ahead of time so that you know what you need to make on the sale to turn a profit. Keep a target number in mind for your profit and do whatever it takes to achieve it.

How To Find Luxury Homes To Buy

Whenever you are looking for luxury homes to buy you will find that it is not always easy. No matter where you live you will need to make sure that you have the right qualities to get the best that there is out there. This is especially true if you happen to be in the middle of the NYC real estate game. It can be extremely competitive and overwhelming unless you are well prepared for what you need to expect. If a luxury home is what you are in the market for, then you need to make sure that you prepare yourself for the long road ahead.

Connections

It always helps to have connections. You will find that the more real estate agents that you know, the more likely you will be to hear about a new home on the market first. There are actually a lot of places that will get scooped up before they even have a chance to be put out on the market. This is why you will need to make sure that you have the opportunity to hear about them as early as possible. So many people think that knowing just one real estate agent is enough. It always helps to know as many as possible so that you can get all possible connections when it comes to luxury homes.

Aggressive

You are going to have to be aggressive. This means putting yourself out there and not backing down as soon as things get difficult. A lot of people will end up not realizing how importance some aggression is whenever they are in the real estate game. No matter where you live it is a very competitive market, especially whenever you are looking for Luxury Homes.

Money

Whenever a luxury home is what you are after it is money that you are going to have to have. So many people want to have a luxury home but simply do not have the funds to be able to get it. This is where you need to make sure that you understand what you want versus what you can afford. A lot of people will end up getting themselves in over their head and will get their homes foreclosed because they cannot keep up with the payments. In order to prevent this from happening to you you are going to need to make sure that you understand what type of luxury home you will be able to afford for yourself.

Stick-to-itiveness

It can be easy to want to give up whenever you don't find what you want right away. You need to understand that it can actually take several months for you to find the home of your dreams. This means that some stick-to-itiveness is something that is going to be crucial whenever you are in the market for a luxury home. This also means that you need to be willing to stay on top of the available homes and know the right locations and the right prices.


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