You have planned, searched, have decided and paid for the outdoor furniture of your choice. Then after, you are considering ways how to protect it. Covers for furniture are ideal to shield them from changes of weather, pollen, morning dew, and other wind-blown environmental wastes which will affect the finishing and material of the furniture. Most covers have openings to allow free air to ventilate the furniture and to prevent the growth of mould.Naturally, choose the waterproof type of furniture cover and that which will fit around the furniture. In addition, these covers should allow breathing space for porous wood furniture. Determine the exact measurements of your furniture because over-sized furniture covers will slump allowing water and other wind-blown debris to accumulate on the sagged portion. Undersized furniture covers will stretch to their limits thus resulting to the untimely ripping and damage of the covers. Covers that fit properly will provide value to the money spent in purchasing them and furthermore will last longer.Aside from furniture covers used for protecting furniture, the availability of a garden shed or a garage with enough space to accommodate furniture, are alternatives to proper storage of furniture during winter or during other periods when outdoor furniture will not be in use. Cleaning chairs one last time before fitting them in covers is recommended so they won’t have to stay in their condition all winter with stains or dirt getting embedded into their surface. See to it that furniture is totally dry before covering them up for the winter. Damp furniture will produce mold, especially if it has been covered under a tarp. These tarps are ideal breeding grounds for mildew because they trap heat and moisture and only let minimal air to go in.These are options in preparation for wintertime in cold countries. There are options too for furniture protection and care in tropical countries. Summer is an ideal time for the proper care of furniture. The warmth of the sun can easily dry out wet surfaces or dry newly-painted furniture in just a few hours of exposure to the sun’s heat. The use of a damp rag to wipe up spills on furniture and drying immediately prevents the penetration of liquid into the wood. Rain showers are part of summertime. They last only for a short time. The droplets that settle on furniture should be wiped off immediately to prevent the moisture to sip through the wood. Then air-dry the furniture.When the summer season comes to an end, you will be thinking again what to do to protect your furniture from the coming of cold weather. Will you leave your chairs outdoors with covers protecting them or bring them inside your garage for storage? Whatever options you would choose it is important to remember to protect your outdoor furniture in the winter as well as in any time of the year. Patio furniture is expensive and you are entitled to enjoy it for a long period of time. Thus, it is but right to take care of and to protect your furniture as if they are family members who need your comforting touch.
The Recession Hurts – Buying Health Insurance While Unemployed
With the recession upon us, unemployment has become a reality and is at an all time high. The media and organizations are getting information out to the public on how expensive health insurance can be when combined with unemployment income, or the lack of income. It is so true that health care costs are on a rise, even more so when you elect to take on the expense of COBRA (Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1986). Fortunately, there are other options families have to choose from. Health insurance is a necessity, like food and shelter. It is not worth the “cost” of not having health insurance. With COBRA being at the high expense that it is, most people move to alternative means of healthcare, such as a Short Term Medical (STM) or their own private health insurance plan.There is the argument that if you have a pre-existing condition you will not be able to get any coverage or have to settle for lack of coverage. This is true; if you have one of over 150 conditions out there you can become uninsurable. You will not be able to buy coverage on your own outside of the high-risk pools. COBRA has its downsides when it comes to pre-existing conditions as well. However, the most common conditions are usually covered, as well as many other conditions that could be covered, only if you work with the right health insurance agent. A truly independent agent has the ability to develop relationships with multiple carriers along with the ability to converse with them to see what the probable outcomes are. Some of my best clients are still amazed that I was able to get them coverage, often times better than what they had before despite the pre-existing condition.Another option for families who are on a tight budget is taking on a Short Term Medical (STM). Basically, you are renting a health insurance policy for catastrophic, only over a short period of time. The health insurance companies give you a break on the price because:1) The policies expire at a maximum of 6 months with an option to renew.
2) They may only provide a discount for the minor things such as, but not limited to:
Doctor Visits
Lab Work
Wellness
Rx coverage
The downsides to having an STM are:1) Like COBRA, the policy eventually runs out. If you develop a health condition while on the policy and you need to continue treatment, the insurance company may turn down the renewal.
2) If the condition is on their list of conditions that are uninsurable, even if the treatment is over, a policy would not be offered for that individual.From my experience, I can tell you that it is much safer to provide your family with more permanent coverage such as a private health insurance policy. The policy can never cancel on you due to health and usage of the policy. It will also never expire on your family. This way if you move to a new employer that does not provide health insurance benefits for your family, or if you start your own business, you can still buy more catastrophic health insurance (such as a Health Savings Account (HSA) Plan) to keep premiums more affordable and have more coverage than an STM.The lack of health insurance can cause major problems. Far too often the uninsured delay the needed medical attention. As a result, adults can wind up with conditions that otherwise could have been prevented. The flip side is if you end up seeking medical attention, many people end up in debt over it.There are a couple of things you can do to have permanent insurance more affordable for your family. The first you have to do is ask yourself what is the most important thing for you to insure. This is a very good question to ask. Some people may claim going to the doctor is the most important thing for them, however you cannot buy health insurance to cover just doctor visit co-pays. There is a reason for that. We don’t buy health insurance to save $70+/- at the doctor. We would buy insurance for the big expensive claims. To make it more affordable you may have to go with a high deductible. The good news is you don’t need your deductible in cash at the time of claim. The facilities are usually reasonable with payment plan options to make it more affordable for your family. Having $5k-10K out of pocket if something happened to your family is much better than having $100,000.00 bill hanging over your head for not having insurance.Your employer is in complete control of how they distribute your health insurance coverage. This is one of the contributing problems when you become unemployed. They can make changes to the policy (i.e. deferring more cost to the employees), do away with the health insurance all together or lay you off. Unfortunately, you do not have a say so unless you are the owner or on the board of directors. It seems the problem starts when unemployment hits. In the world of health insurance, many of these problems can be prevented if families just took advantage of buying their own private health insurance policy. This way if you are employed or not, it is not a reality check. In fact, it is already factored into the monthly budget, right? You have control of the benefits by choosing the plan that best fits your needs, your wants and your budget. Work with an independent agent to be sure you have all the options.
Automotive GPS System
Many of the sophisticated control systems of modern automobiles require measurements of the vehicle’s attitude. Commercial GPS attitude systems are the method of choice for measuring attitude in many aircraft and farm vehicle applications, but are not commonly used on automobiles. The prohibitive aspects of commercial GPS attitude systems on a car include their relatively high cost and significant loss of integrity and signal availability in urban road environments.Modern automobiles are equipped with a variety of control systems that improve passenger safety and comfort. Such systems include anti-lock brakes, differential steering and cruise control. Recently, automotive GPS systems have also been added to many cars for use in positioning purposes, allowing the driver to view his/her position on a map, and receive directions in real time. The advent of GPS receivers in cars has initiated efforts to enhance existing control systems, and to create new ones such as car-following and lane keeping control. Many of these control systems require measurements of the vehicle’s attitude.Some other kind interesting integrations and functions of automotive GPS system are that the color LCD screens on some automotive navigation systems can also be used to display television broadcasts or DVD movies. A few systems integrate (or communicate) with mobile phones for hands-free talking and SMS messaging (i.e., using Bluetooth or Wi-Fi). Automotive navigation systems can include personal information management for meetings, which can be combined with a traffic and public transport information system.Having many advantages automotive GPS systems have some of evils also as a number of road accidents have been attributed to misdirection by satnav systems. On May 11, 2007, a driver followed satnav instructions in the dark and her car was hit by a train on a rail crossing that was not shown on the system. In Exton, Hampshire, the County Council erected a sign warning drivers to ignore their “sat nav” system and to take another route, because the street was too narrow for vehicular traffic, and property damage resulted from vehicles getting stuck.As the automotive GPS system has many types a very interesting type of automotive GPS system is portable GPS system. This type of GPS navigation device is not permanently integrated into the vehicle, having only a simple bracket to mount the device on the surface of the dashboard and powered via the car cigarette lighter. This class of GPS unit does not require professional installation and can typically be used as handheld device, too.Benefits of this type of GPS unit include low cost as well as the ability to move them easily to other vehicles. Their portability means they are easily stolen if left inside the vehicle but cannot be stolen if the driver takes it with him when he gets out. Furthermore not having a compass, accelerometer or inputs from the vehicle’s speed sensors, means that they cannot navigate as accurately by dead reckoning as some built- in devices when there’s no GPS signal. More modern portable devices such as the TomTom 920 have an inbuilt accelerometer to try to address this.
Easily Create Your Own Custom Nutrition and Weight Loss Meal Plans
For people trying to lose weight or get in shape, a fitness professional or nutritionist looking for a user-friendly computer nutrition program, it can be a daunting task. Any athlete or professional fitness trainer understands how tedious and time-consuming it can be to create a custom meal plan for themselves or for their clients. Most people who don’t have a nutritional or fitness background put out big bucks to get a customized nutrition program because the bottom line is, they work. Athletes rely on programs such as these because their time is limited and they need structure to accomplish their goals. In addition, people trying to lose weight rely on these programs because they are often on the learning curve and in need of assistance to reach their goals. Today, online programs are used by thousands of personal trainers, athletes, and nutritionists around the globe. Using the latest cutting edge sports nutritional research, a custom nutrition meal plan can be created easily and in minimal time. Most programs have you set up a profile by inputting your personal measurements. Once your personal statistics are entered, you can select a plan by choosing a pre-defined meal plan or by creating a custom plan with foods you like. These programs also give you easy access to track your progress and make any changes you wish to your custom meal plans.You now have the tools just as a professional nutritional counselor or fitness professional does to track your progress. These programs allow you to create a plan to lose weight, increase lean muscle mass, decrease body fat, and achieve your diet goals all without time-consuming meal planning. Most software programs also enable you to create custom time-saving shopping lists based on the personal food menu plans you’ve created. You can create a daily, weekly or monthly shopping lists depending on your time schedule.You can create hundreds of custom meal plan programs and design them to fit your specific needs. Whether you are looking to lose weight, gain muscle or just create a custom plan to stay in shape. There are nutritional indicator systems is included, which calculates the exact amount of calories, carbohydrates, proteins and fats contained in each food. Your food menu plan will be automatically calculated based on the personal measurements and training objectives you have indicated. Choose from the meal plans that have been created by international sports professionals or create your own. The latest state of the art programs include complete nutritional information for over thousands of types of foods, in addition to an extensive library of foods and recipes to suit all tastes. If the foods you like are not included, most programs give you the ability to add foods and all nutritional information necessary. Maximum caloric intake is automatically calculated based on the personal measurement information and the amount of physical activity indicated you do each day.Creating customized fitness nutrition plans are now so easy to use, it’s like having a personal trainer and nutritional counselor at your finger tips. It brings together all of the tools necessary to meet anyone’s fitness needs, wants and goals.For more information about how to create your own personal weight-loss program click on: www.meal-plans.info