Ticks On Your Dog: What to Do?
November 28, 2007
Once though of as a mere harmless but annoying pest, ticks are of growing concern for their Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever and Lyme Disease-carrying ability. Learn the facts, and keep your dog tick and disease-free.
Ticks are a despicable lot of parasitic bloodsuckers. They bide their time in wooded areas, stay close to ground level and wait for an unsuspecting mammal to shuffle on by so they can descend upon him and sink those nasty little teeth in for a long meal of blood, blood and more blood. Once a tick has embedded itself into your dog, it will hang on indefinitely, taking in copious amounts of blood until it is bloated and gorged. If you find a corn kernel-like object hanging from your dog’s ear or elsewhere on his body that turns out to have legs, it’s probably a tick that’s been feasting for hours. Remove it immediately, check your dog thoroughly for more ticks, and then call your veterinarian for further direction and advice.
Check Your Dog Regularly for Ticks
How Could Your Hobby be the Key to Financial Success?
November 28, 2007
Virtually everyone has the knowledge they need to make a fortune. Everyone has an interest, hobby or has knowledge about a particular subject. It could be anything, and I really mean anything! From gardening to model planes, childcare, from dog training to sports, everyone has knowledge that someone else wants. The problem is that most people have no idea how much their knowledge is worth because information online is worth much more today.
The internet has become a force to be reckoned with. This monster of mass consumerism is ever increasing and does not seem to be slowing down. U.S. consumers spent $748 million on online content (information) during the first half of 2003, representing a 23 per cent increase over the same period in 2002. With the rate that the internet is growing, just imagine what the figures look like today.
Last year, Jupiter Research forecast that paid-content web revenues will grow four-fold by 2006, from $1.4 billion to $5.8 billion. The crazy thing is ? many people are only just waking up to this reality. Gone are the days when all websites offer their data free of charge, now the hottest information is reserved for those who pay!
Ten Ways to Get Cheap (and Free) Magazine Samples
November 27, 2007
1 - Join a reading or writing group. Ask members to bring in their already-read magazines and have an exchange. Do the same with interest groups you belong to or know about - playgroups (parenting, home, cooking, family mags), business networking groups (entrepreneurs, home business, finances magazines), church (religious, devotional periodicals).
2 - Offer to take a friend to the doctor’s office. Okay, that sounds goofy but I love taking my children to the orthodontist, pediatrician, and dentist offices so I can scan the table of contents and skim the articles in the parenting, children’s, family, travel and money magazines. I bring a notepad and take plenty of notes. Find an article in an old magazine that would help your research? Ask the office to make a copy of it; offer to pay.
3 - Subscribe. Remember if you subscribe to a magazine that is for business purposes, you can deduct the cost of the subscriptions if you itemize your taxes. I am a food writer so I keep all receipts for food and writing magazines, and food and writing books to deduct as business expenses.
The Dreaded Vet Visit: 5 Ways to Comfort Your Dog
November 27, 2007
Uh-oh, it’s that time again. The dreaded vet visit, and Barkley will be whimpering all the way. It’s days like this when you wish your dog understood English, so you could tell him, “Hey, even though scary people in white lab coats are sticking needles in you and shaving you in weird places, it’s going to be okay. I’m here for you, buddy.”
But since you can’t offer your dog peace of mind with comforting words on the day of his Hated Trip to the Vet’s Office, you can at least offer him some familiar comforts. Here are five ways to bring back the love in those fearful doggy eyes and keep that stubby tail wagging.
1. Take your fella out for an extra long walk. If a scheduled vet visit means you can’t promise him a nice afternoon, at least give him an enjoyable morning of being out and about in the great outdoors. Fill his doggy mind with happy memories of blue skies, open roads, cool breezes and chipmunk chasing. He’ll soon forget all about those frightening yowls he heard from the cat carrier at the vet’s office!
Greg Koch Fender Guitar History
November 27, 2007
The Greg Koch Fender guitar began to take shape all the way back when Greg Koch was in the third grade. Greg cut out cardboard Fender Stratocaster guitars, then Koch used his sisters sewing machine pedal as a wah-wah. By watching, listening and copying what he heard on records he was able to advance quickly.
Early on while playing his Greg Koch Fender guitar, Greg melded the blues, rock and country styles. Koch’s Fender guitar playing style began to mutate. This continued by his playing in polka groups and blues-rock ensembles of his own creation. He even accompanied Elvis impersonators.
Greg Koch studied jazz guitar for four years at the University of Wisconsin. His musical maturity playing with a Fender led to national attention as a fiery instrumentalist. Greg was “Guitarist of the Year” (92, 94-99). His playing style has been featured on numerous TV and radio commercials including Sprite, Sassoon, Bank One and Oldsmobile.
Greg Koch utilizing his own tunes as a backdrop is one of a handful of guitarists that promote Fender, Guild, SUNN and De Armond instruments and tools. He created a unique clinic, in which he shares a wide array of tones, tricks and anecdotes with those present. Greg was present at the Summer NAMM 2000, to debut the Fender American Series Stratocaster. This summer music festival attracted large crowds and was a great success.
Adirondack Furniture - What It is and Why You Want It
November 27, 2007
Adirondack is the name given to a style of furnishings that date back to the late 1800’s. During this time period, immediately following the civil war, upstate New York gained notoriety as a popular tourist destination. People, mostly the rich, flocked to the lavish hotels and guest houses that dotted the rustic landscape of the Adirondack Mountain range to relax and enjoy the tranquility and atmosphere that could be found in these remote destinations.
In order to attract these tourist dollars to his location, one of the locals, William West Durrant, created a unique destination that came to be known as the "Great Camp." In this camp, Durrant utilized many of the natural resources that could be found in the Adirondack Mountain area, such as limbs and leaves, to create beautifully styled, rustic chalets and furniture that mirrored the popular chalets of the Swiss.
Not only did this furniture harmonize with its natural surroundings, it was also very comfortable and durable. It did not take long for Durrant’s style to catch on, and soon there were many such camps in the area of the Adirondacks.
Uncommon Advice for Beginning Novelists
November 26, 2007
1) Convince yourself you want to do something else. If you don’t succeed, proceed to number 2.
2) Write what you don’t know. Write what interests you. Fiction is about emotion not personal experience–that is a memoir. Truth comes from emotion. Write with passion.
3) Embrace rejections. Not literally unless it makes you feel good. Understand that they are as inevitable as bad hair days, gum on your shoe, and taxes. You’re in the marketing business. Everyone will not buy your product, but eventually somebody will.
4) Procrastinate. You don’t need to write every day. On some days just be idle. Use these days to fill up your creativity well. Take a long leisurely walk, organize your cupboards, read, buy the stationary you’ll send to your fans, imagine a brilliant review and write it down, sketch your book cover with a blurb from an author you admire.
5) Write to make money. Poverty need not be a mandatory requirement of the writing life. Artistic expression is all well and good, but you need to eat. So write the books of your heart, but also understand the market and see if you can tailor some of your work to fit it. You can write your Great Novel on the side, but trust me it’s very difficult to be creative when you’re starving.
Garbage-Raiding Dogs: One Simple Solution to the Problem
November 26, 2007
Got a mischevious mutt on your hands? Then you may know this scenario. You walk in the door and your pal greets you with elated tail wagging, wiggling and sloppy doggy kisses. Then suddenly, he’s overcome with a guilty look and it’s off to cower behind the couch. Uh-oh. You know what this means. Sure enough, a telltale trail of eggshells, coffee grinds, grease stains and tattered wrappers leads you to the scene of the crime: the kitchen. Your dog’s done it again, raided the garbage.
You’ve tried whacking him, you’ve tried gating him, you’ve put him in dog house solitary for a few hours as punishment. Still, no matter how much you holler and scold, your dog’s still up to his no-good hijinks with that darned kitchen trash pail every time you leave the house. What’s a frustrated dog owner to do?
First of all, let’s think about who we’re dealing with here. It’s a DOG. He might be your lovable pal, and at times he seems smarter than your husband, but the truth is, here’s an animal that’s at least two steps down on the food chain. Just remembering that fact alone may help you realize that your dog does not have advanced reasoning capacity.
A One Minute Meditation
November 26, 2007
Maybe learning to meditate intimidates you, and in any case it’s tough to find the time for daily meditation. The solution to both problems is an easy meditation you can learn right now, that will only take a minute to do each day.
An Easy Meditation Technique
Breathing through your mouth expands your chest, but if you breath through your nose you’ll notice how your abdomen extends. You see, nose-breathing causes the diaphram to pull air to the bottom of your lungs. This delivers a good dose of oxygen into your bloodstream and brain. It also tends to relax you.
Breathing through your nose is healthier, and it’s the basis of this one-minute meditation. You simply close your eyes, let the tension go out of your muscles, let go of your thoughts (to the extent possible), and take four slow, deep breaths through your nose, paying attention to your breathing.
Is Meditation This Easy?
You’re not likey to get you into a deep meditative state with this simple exercise. You will get benefits, though. These will almost certainly include a clearer mind and a reduction in stress.
10 Slam-Dunk Crafts For Little Kids — And Bigger Kids Too!
November 26, 2007
Crafting with young children really isn’t about creating something in particular. Most young children don’t have the foresight to see what a project is going to be.
For young children it’s more important that they have the opportunity to play and experiment with art. Kids need to use as many of their senses as possible to get the most out of crafting. This allow them to try new sensory experiences, as well as learn causal relationships.
These are my 10 favorite crafts for little kids based on all that AND the ‘fun factor.’
1. Finger painting: Finger painting is a wonderful activity for kids. It lets them ‘feel’ the craft as well as be creative. You don’t have to have finger paints to do this activity with kids. You can finger paint with homemade paint, watercolors or even mud. You can also experiment with adding other things to the paint such as sand or glitter.
2. Yarn Painting: Dip pieces of string or yarn into paint and then drag it across the paper to paint with it. It’s a good experience to paint with something other than a brush and you can just throw the yarn away when finished.
