Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Tips on Carpeting and Flooring

Tips on carpeting and flooring

  • Consider ordering carpet from a specialy store or factory where most carpet is manufactured, and having it shipped it to your home.
  • If you choose to buy carpet from a store locally, your best bet is to shop at Home Depot and Costco, which are putting enormous pressure on the industry to lower prices.
  • Consider wood floors if you prefer wood, but not to increase the value of your home.
  • There are three kinds of “wood” floors: Laminate, engineered, and solid wood. Solid wood lasts the longest but is the most expensive. Laminate and engineered floors work best when installed over concrete floors.
  • Tile and stone are more expensive than hardwood. Tile costs about $7 a square foot installed.

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Green Rebates & Incentives for Your Home


While you are caught up in your remodel whirlwind, remember that there are likely Federal, State, Local, and Utility provider incentives that promote renewable energy and energy efficiency. GetWithGreen.com covers eco-friendly products for your home remodel or makeover project. Virtually all the products discussed on GetWithGreen.com have some form of incentive attached to them by one of these parties (or the manufacturer).

The Database of State Incentives for Renewables & Efficiency (DSIRE) is one of the best and most comprehensive sources on the web for finding incentives and rebates. DSIRE is an ongoing project of the North Carolina Solar Center, and the Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC) funded by the U.S. Department of Energy. The names above should not fool you -- this database goes beyond North Carolina to cover the entire U.S., and it goes beyond solar to cover interest free loans, appliances, and more! To leverage the database we recommend you to start browsing by State. At the State level you select either

* Federal Incentives: Here you will find all of the Federal Incentives available. As a homeowner you need to look for "Applicable Sectors: Residential". By clicking on each incentive you will quickly see if the incentive is Commercial, Industrial, or Residential.
* Homeowner Incentives: Here you will find all of the incentives, from local entities such as your State, County, City, and Utility.
* All: Here you will find a compilation of Homeowner, and some other State programs (not listed under Homeowner Incentives). TheGreenTheory.com recommends searching with this option, and then searching again with the Federal Incentives option!

So as you run through your remodel list make sure you take some time to dig into DSIRE. It is a great resource to save on your remodeling, or home improvement venture!

Saturday, November 22, 2008

Learn how to bring traffic to your blog

If you think having a website will gain you popularity, think again. Or rather, think of the other millions of people who also have their websites and think like you. If you want to boost your website’s popularity, you have to know how to give that extra shove.

Google, Yahoo! and other search engines get more than 400 million searches every day. Imagine the number of websites you have to beat in order for your site to appear on the first page of the search engine results.

Today, it takes more than glittery background page or blinking fonts to get your site noticed. You need to optimize your website to ensure your position at the top of the results. Getting to the first page of the results and more importantly at the top position is a big competition. A lot of factors determine your position in search engine results; there’s the design, although it’s not as important as the content and the code, which should be search engine-friendly. According to statistics, most people don’t usually go on the second or third page of the search engine results. Imagine the effect your site would yield if it got put on the first page. Your site traffic, and more importantly your income, will increase.

Green Media Concepts is an example SEO outsourcing company that takes your business to the top by ensuring its place on the first page of search engine results.

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

How to save money on food

We all have different approaches to food. My goal is to enjoy it. Yours may be to eat all the right things. But however you look at food, I want you to buy it at the right price. You can learn to save money and reduce your food budget, whether you eat at home, eat out, or bring home ready-to-eat meals. As to what you drink, alcoholic or non-alcoholic, there are tremendous savings available in that area as well.

One of the few places virtually everyone spends money is the supermarket, and it’s a prime place to save. There are a few common-sense rules that can help you save on your grocery bill. You may be using one or more occasionally already, but you probably don’t follow them consistently. The first is to shop with a list. If you go into a supermarket without a list, you’re going to fall prey to the store’s marketing tactics. You’ll buy things that are displayed at “end caps,” at the end of each aisle. You’ll be tempted by merchandise that is positioned at eye level, often foods with a lot of fat and calories that will earn a higher profit for the store and also be bad for your health. The store’s goal is to get you to buy things you hadn’t intended to buy. Using a list helps you fight that. My wife, Lane, is obsessive about lists. She figures out exactly what she needs, goes down the aisles, and picks out only those items.

The second rule is never go to the supermarket when you’re hungry. That is a fatal error for you finances, because you’re much more likely to make impulse buys when you’re hungry. If you do just those two things, you can make an enormous difference in you grocery bill. There are a number of techniques that will help you save money on the things you buy. One is using discount coupons. I judged a newspaper contest on handling money, and it was tough to pick a winner, because each of the contestants had brilliant strategies. One woman took $500 and turned it into $1,900worth of food, simply by couponing. It was phenomenal. She did her shopping at four different stores, and was very organized about it. She went through the fliers each week to see what they were offering. If a store doubled or tripled coupons on certain days, she would shop there on those days. That may make your eyes roll because it’s a lot of work and a lot of time. But if you can take $500 and turn it into $1,900 by spending a little time organizing yourself and going to four stores, that seems well worth the effort. Normally, you’re not going to spend $500 on groceries at one time, but I love the idea of being able to get double or triple the value for your money simply by buying items that are on sale or couponable.

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

How to read blood test results

Blood sustains life. It delivers oxygen, nutrients and other essential substances, including vitamins and medicines to the different cells and tissues of the body.

A deficiency in the supply or quality of blood will impair the quality of life and even compromise life itself. For example, if oxygen does not reach the brain, the lack of it would cause death within three minutes.

Blood also removes carbon dioxide and other harmful wastes, which in turn are eliminated by the different organs of the body.

The white blood cells defend the body against infections and injuries. If the organs and the tissues lack the proper supply of blood, bodily functions would break down, hampering mental functions, triggering emotional changes, and even causing debilitating diseases. Blood has to flow freely to keep the body performing at optimum levels and help eliminate risks from diseases, infections, free radicals and the natural decay of body organs due to the ageing process.

Regular intake of dietary supplement helps ensure healthy blood and efficient circulatory system. It also provides the body with vital protective free radical scavengers from its anti-oxidant compounds such as flavonoids and bioflavonoids, including proanthocyanidin oligomers (PCO), which is 50 times more powerful than Vitamin E and 20 times more powerful than Vitamin C, acting as powerful defenses against free radicals. The dietary supplement should have herbal extracts that work synergistically on the blood, heart, veins, and nerves. The herbal extracts are hawthorne, ginkgo biloba, garlic and lemon balm.

Hawthorne (Crataegus Oxyacatha) helps stimulate heart metabolism, strengthen contractions, and increase blood flow through enhanced permeability of the membrane and improved heart beat. It nourishes the blood and increases metabolism in the heart muscle and oxygen utilization by the heart. It opens the coronary arteries, improving blood flow, softening deposits of fats and cholesterol, and reducing degenerations of the blood vessels. Hawthorne is a source of flavonoids and PCO.
Ginkgo Biloba helps maintain normal blood flow in the arteries, veins and capillaries, including the central nervous system, the brain, and the extremities. Acting as an anti-oxidant, Ginkgo Biloba contains flavonoids, bioflavonoids and PCO.
Garlic helps lower cholesteros and triglycerides in the blood, keeping the blood thin, eliminating stickiness and slowing down blood coagulation. It has antibacterial, antifungal, and antiviral properties, which safeguard the body against infections and diseases. It also reduces the formation of carcinogenic compounds in the body and gas in the stomach.
Lemon Balm (Melissa Officinalis) helps ease nervous agitation, relieve sleeping disorders, and alleviate gastrointestinal problems. It offers a calming effect that helps prevent stress, which might lead to high blood pressure and nervousness—affecting the action of the heart and causing chest pains, palpitations or an irregular heart beat. It contains flavonoids, an anti-oxidant, plus antiviral and antibacterial properties that work on the nervous system.

The combination of these herbs working in synergy helps keep the blood, heart, nerves and nervous system healthy and working efficiently. It ensures the healthy flow of good blood through a circulatory system and nervous system working at optimum efficiency.

Thursday, November 13, 2008

Armani Exchange Clothing


A/X Armani Exhange is now capturing the consumers’ wildest idea of a free, more active and stylish but urbane taste in fashion wear. A/X has been widely known for its worldly class and high quality of creating trends from ordinary to most special outfits for extraordinary events.

Introduced by Giorgio Amrmani in the year 1991, A/X brings out the strong and adventurous image of the clothing product. The company has grown and increased a significant number in terms of its branches. A/X has outlets in North America where people have learned to embrace A/X in their lifestyle and include in their clothing allowance.

This popular clothing company has branches in other countries such as Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, United Kingdom, Japan, United Arab Emirates, Lebanon and in the Philippines. Giorgio Armani, beyond doubt, has brought a craft that showcases power, art and style that has gone to the different parts of the world to make a name and to be a part of everyone’s daily system.

The latest innovation that A/X is into is its collaboration with one of the leading soft drink companies all over the world, which is Pepsi. With Pepsi’s special, chic and unique creation of another has-to-buy cola, these two companies have formed elegance, passion, and personality in the persona of anyone who gets to obtain the products.

Pepsi Deluxe, Zero-Calorie Cola is the brand’s latest specially made cola. From the name itself, Pepsi Deluxe has a delicious, sumptuous and captivating taste that surely will get the people run for it in stores. Pepsi Deluxe’s variations are Crème Caramel and Strawberries & Cream.

This is actually the first time that a fashion wear and a soft drink company work in partnership to promote a character of the youth today that is outgoing, tough bold and stylish.

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Reigning in diseases during rainy days


The rainy season brings woe to some of us. Ailments like cough, cold, and diseases like diarrhea and leptospirosis are common during the rainy season. How does one fight them?
For diarrhea, hygenic practices especially hand washing when preparing food is essential. We have to keep our surroundings clean, e.g. proper waste disposal to prevent flies from breeding in these places. Use of clean water (boiled or bottled water) for consumption is equally important. For leptospirosis, persons with open wounds, especially in the lower extremities, should avoid bathing or wading in floodwaters. Protective clothing like use of boots and gloves should be worn to reduce occupational exposure. It is also important to remember that if any of above-mentioned symptons are observed, the person should be brought to the nearest health center or hospital at the soonest possible time.