hd-chile.com

Have you ever decided on a whim just to treat yourself and your family to a nice dinner only to discover once you arrive at your chosen restaurant that it may turn out to be much more like something you'll regret? Sure. All of us have been there many times. But, honestly, this should never ever be happening. These are businesses and in order to stay in business, they need to take care of their paying customers. I have provided some tips for both families and individuals for things to look for before spending any well-deserved time or money into a negative dining experience and for restaurants desiring some simple and honest feedback from customers desiring to share their opinions.

Recently, I took a group over to a restaurant for a friend's birthday. It was a pleasant atmosphere and, unfortunately, that is where it ended. You see, we had made reservations and informed the restaurant that some of our guests would be running a bit late. They said it would be ok. To our surprise, as soon as we got there, we were told that we could not sit down until a majority of our party has arrived. I would like to add that there were plenty of open tables, but none suited for this group. They did give us and the kids along with us the option to sit at the bar if we would like. We, of course, declined. Our guests did not arrive. We finally negotiated a table in the very, very back of the restaurant as it would not be one those with qualified reservations would desire. Mind you, everyone had dressed very nicely and there were no complaints.

After waiting a bit too long, I decided to work out the table that no one would be demanding as all we wanted to do was get our appetizers going. As we sat at our table, the music was blaring and a local fraternity was there having a meeting at a reserved table that a majority had arrived in time to be seated at. To make a long story short, the service turned out alright and we decided to keep it positive and not let this situation affect us negatively. We did have a fun time. Afterwards, I began to think about some things that people and restaurants alike should always consider when about to make a transaction. First, when first walking in the door, guests should always be greeted nicely and instantly feel a warmth of hospitality. Customers are not just another check for the restaurant's books. Next, if a party makes a reservation for 6 pm and the restaurant accepts it, the restaurant should always honor this promise. The guests should never have to wait for over an hour just because someone overslept.

Getting seated in a timely manner would only be the most courteous thing for a business to do. That is if a dining experience is what they are selling. Next, when you are seated, you should never be stuck in the back of the restaurant just because those with reservations who have not shown up yet or even those 'regulars' who like that large table in front at 6pm prefer it. Every guest should be treated like everyone else. In addition, if customers do decide to have something at the bar, the customer should always have the right to transfer that amount to their bill. This method of making customers close out their bills over and over really is not an example of customer service at all. Try to keep things more convenient for the customers. The bill should be handled at the table when the service is complete.

Many restaurants do not seem to recognize that many people do not prefer loud music when they are spending a lot of money dining out. Many prefer a pleasant atmosphere. Why many restaurants that normally serve elegant dinners jam 80's tunes is not understood by me, but one thing restaurants should consider is that the noise level only makes things louder, including the kids. A few more things I would like to mention are in regards to the withholding of certain items such as wine lists and other special menus. Just treat each customer equally. I have witnesses this at restaurants where we received these menus but the other table ordering just water to drink did not. All customers should be treated respectfully meaning keeping positive judgment on people. At the beginning of the meal, if the customer does not want the special, yet, would like a description of one of the regular items on the menu as if it were the special, the waiter should be able to do that. This is oftentimes rather annoying to many people dining out. Maybe restaurants should quiz their employees from time to time?

Surely there are plenty of things a person could complain about, such as no salt and/or pepper at the table, or even proper utensils, but the goal here is not to bring anyone down. The goal is to simply make other people aware of some of the things people go through when all they wanted was a nice dinner experience. These things should be a foundation with not just the restaurant business, but with any business. As it seemingly gets more and more competitive daily, wouldn't it be a great idea to treat those who are helping you out with the utmost respect and dignity? One thing to remember is that if those businesses that do not honestly make customer satisfaction their number one priority will surely find many more that will.

S. Michael Windsor is currently publisher and a writer for The Windsor Express Daily, which features daily exclusive articles based on improving the things which matter most in our daily lives. Visit us today at http://www.TheWindsorExpress.com and subscribe for free!

The rules have changed. Shopping for employment is a hybrid of automated filter applications, on-line search engines and good old fashioned human interpretation. To be effective you need to make sure that your resume is designed to perform in all of these areas. In the hunt for a new job, a better job, or just keeping your Resume current, use these ten simple steps to draft a stellar resume.

1. Create a Personal Portfolio

This is the easy part. Begin by making a list of accomplishments, education and previous positions. This is your own private list. Do not be concerned with the order or the appearance. You can use scratch paper, word processor or collection of documents. Gather, create, collect and document your history with important facts, figures and milestones. Collect the relevant highlights from your life, education and career.

2. Choose a Standard Outline

Select a standard Template to use as your outline. Resist the urge to be creative or unique in the format of your resume. Do not waste time with colorful bullets, images or watermarks. Why? Web sites like Monster.com and CareerBuilder.com provide the option to upload a resume in standard format and can automatically identify job titles with associated accomplishments. Your resume gets cut and spliced into pure text data and loaded into a "Monster" database that can be accessed by recruiters, human resource departments and agencies. Many companies and organizations either use the on-line database application or have similar software for managing the pure text from resumes. These filters do not support colorful bullets, images, icons or watermarks. If you do not want to spend your time copying and pasting pure text for every on-line opportunity, then make your life easy and use a standard template.

Organize the documents and thoughts from your personal portfolio into a chronological timeline and type them into a standard resume outline. Be sure to keep track of the accomplishments that best define your ability.

Sample Professional and Standard Outlines can be found at

http://www.executiveblueprints.com/executive_jobs.htm

3. Work Backwards

The typical resume starts with a short paragraph about you, followed bullet by points of your highlights, and then lists your career starting with your current or latest job. While that is meaningful to a potential employer to see the most current and relevant information first, it is opposite of the order of events. Most people tend to reflect on their life with greater precision in chronological order, like a story unfolding and progressing through the eyes of your memory.

Start at the end of your resume and work toward the beginning. This will enable you to follow your own career path and build up to the current status. It will make more sense to you as you put it together. Like building blocks of personal development, it will make more sense to someone reading the final product and understanding how you got to where you are today.

Start with your education. Then update the bullet points for the first job or oldest career position that you are going to include. Keep working forward in time, from the end of your resume to the beginning. Pay attention to how the responsibility and experience of each position contributed to the success of the subsequent one.

4. Concise, Precise and Measured

Bullet points with short sentences and specific measurements are excellent. For each job, use a series of bullet points to make your statement. Punctuate the highlights with measurements. "Good sales skills" should be "Increased sales 45% in first Quarter", "Increased sales 15% year-over-year" or "Directed Regional Sales Growth of 7% in Sixteen Months". Service related measurements may be related to "Improved Customer Satisfaction from 87% to 95%", or "Managed a Call Center with less than 2% Abandon Rate". Accounting and Finance may include estimated average size of portfolio managed, outstanding receivables in days, or similar measurements. Dates, Completion and Milestones are also a method of measurement. The bottom line is that every position can be measured. Identify measurements and provide quantitative details.

Do not make up measurements. Include the data if you have it or you are confident in the accuracy. Do not make up numbers if you do not know them. Use bullet points to be concise, do not use paragraphs. Avoid using "I" or "We". Use personal accomplishments with supporting data.

5. Select Your Highlights

Select highlight from your personal portfolio. These may or may not be included in your career bullet points. You can emphasize specific accomplishments from your career, or you can use this opportunity to highlight outside achievements. For example, this might be your opportunity to mention volunteer work for charitable contributions. Use highlights to draw attention to specific individual talents, skills and experience. Highlights should also be listed in bullet form, above the individual career descriptions.

6. Keywords and Buzzwords

Above the bulleted Highlights, create a section of bulleted Keywords and Buzzwords. What are keywords and buzzwords? These are common words associated with your desired profession. For example, a programmer might include reference to "UNIX", "LINUX" or "ORACLE". An administrative assistant might include expertise in "WORD, POWERPOINT, EXCEL", or the number of "WPM". If you know which skills, tools, degrees or experience are relative and important for your profession, then be sure to list your capabilities. Do not take this for granted or assume that this is common. The recruiter and employer can not assume that all applicants have the necessary skills, so make sure that you include as many as possible.

Why is this so important? The on-line tools and application filters will search your resume for keywords related to specific jobs, just like search engines search for keywords to identify relevance in a web page or web site. The more matches to keywords, the higher your score. Typically the highest scores are used to select individuals for personal interviews, and the lowest scores are discarded before a human ever reads the resume. To avoid being discarded by an automated attendant, improve your score with relevant keywords.

7. Make Your Own Headlines

Create a short paragraph to define yourself and use this as the opening of your resume. It should only be four or five sentences long, chock full of keywords and buzzwords. Use action verbs like "Managed", "Directed", "Accomplished", or "Achieved". These are sentences, not bullet points. If you get beyond the automated applications and filters, this will be the first thing that a person reads. You never get a second chance to make a first impression, so summarize yourself in the opening paragraph in such a way that the reader would be compelled to scan the rest of your work history in you resume.

8. Add Spice

Review the entire document from start to finish. Modify your bullet points with action adverbs and exciting adjectives where appropriate. For example, "In charge of four employees, reduced expenses 12%" can be more effective and exciting worded as "Managed a dynamic department that dramatically reduced overall expenses by 12%". Which description sounds more appealing and energetic to you?

Read each sentence as if you were the big voice of a radio announcer. If the bullet points sound exciting, then you have written them well. If the description sounds ridiculous in your big announcer voice, then you might need to write the bullets again. Just in case, don't use that big announcer voice in public until you are really confident about your resume.

9. Check Your Name and Contact Information

Make sure that it is easy to find your name, email address and phone number. It would be a shame to have a stellar resume that is a perfect match for the job of your dreams, and the employer can not get in touch with you. Don't laugh, it happens. Make sure that your name, email and phone number are prominently visible on both pages of your resume.

Do not include personal or private information like a social security number. Do not use more than two pages for your resume, no matter how many jobs you have worked. If you are using a professional resume format, you will be prompted for placement of your contact information. Make sure that it is your contact information on every page.

10. Review and Repeat

Review your resume for correct spelling, grammar and punctuation. Nothing says careless better than a resume that is full of errors. I have seen managers promptly discard resumes due to spelling or grammar. The resume is a reflection of you, and the employer assumes that you took time to craft this document with great care. Your future opportunities may be based on your resume, so it should be treated that way. If you do not have confidence, then it may be well worth the investment to hire a professional to correct these errors and spice up the document for you. Consider it a one time investment that will bring you continual rewards by earning a better job and better pay.

Once you have a resume that gives you satisfaction and confidence, then it is time to change it. Save that version of your resume, and make another copy that you can modify with a different theme. Use the copy of your resume to change keywords, buzzwords and highlights from a different perspective. In many cases there are aspects of your experience that may be more closely associated with different job markets or industries. Adjust the language of your resume according to different job markets so you can submit a fitting resume to a target position. Do not try to make your resume "one size fits all", but rather make several variations of your resume with different themes.

For examples of how to use different themes, compare the following on-line versions of these actual resumes:

Sales and Marketing Theme

http://www.executiveblueprints.com/resumes/johnmkt.htm

Service and Operations Theme

http://www.executiveblueprints.com/resumes/johnsvc.htm

References

Do not distribute a list of references unless asked. References should only be presented during an interview, not distributed in advance.

Ask permission from each person to be a reference for you. Do not ever list someone without prior consent. Employers are obligated to call and verify references, and you do not want it to be a surprise.

Be courteous to the people who are generous enough to be a reference, ask them for a written endorsement or letter of recommendation. This enables the reference to endorse your capability or experience without the interruption of a phone call until it is time for an employer to check and verify references. This is a courtesy to your references as it will minimize the potential number of people who may call. It also gets your endorsement in the hands of the potential employer that much faster. It is a great way to be courteous and build credibility at the same time.

Submit Your Resume

Don't be shy. Upload your resume to the on-line web tools and be prepared for quick response. Check your email every day and respond quickly to opportunity. Do not think of it as being over-eager, it is being enthusiastic and responsive. Recruiters and employers have a need and incentive to fill positions with qualified individuals in a prompt and efficient manner. They do not have time to wait if you take your time, so be at the front of the line and demonstrate your aggressive and enthusiastic desire.

Prepare for Your Interview

If you took this much time and care to prepare a stellar resume, then do the same preparation for your interview. A professional resume will get you past the on-line filters, the company internal applications and the front-line reviews. If you get to the personal interview, make sure that you are adequately prepared.

You need to be confident in the final versions of your resume. If you are not sure, ask for review from trusted and respected colleagues. If you do not want to do that, you might want to consider using a professional service to assist you. Remember, the time that you spend on your resume is an investment to open new doors to career opportunities that could dramatically change your life. Invest a little extra time for long lasting rewards.

Still looking for a little motivation, inspiration or guidance?

Look for "Executive Jobs, A Guide to Managing Your Career", a free eBook from http://www.ExecutiveBlueprints.com

John Mehrmann is President of Executive Blueprints Inc., an organization devoted to improving business practices and developing human capital.

http://www.ExecutiveBlueprints.com provides resource materials for trainers, sample Case Studies, educational articles and references to local affiliates for consulting and executive coaching.

Everyday someone asks me, "How do you start a pet-sitting business?" I try to answer their question succinctly. But the truth is, starting a pet-sitting business, or any business is not always a succinct process. Following are 21 tips that I know can lead to pet-care business success in any economy.

1. Accept what you don't know. Not everyone who starts a pet-care business is an expert on every type of household pet. Be honest with clients who call requesting care for a pet you've never cared for. Your honesty and commitment to learning from them will go a long way in building long-term trust in you and your company.

2. Commit to learning about business. Unless you've run a series of successful small businesses before, you must create a self-education plan for yourself. No matter how much you love animals (and they love you) your business will flounder without attention to the mundane details of accounting, sales, marketing and filing.

3. Have a realistic budget. Set up a realistic budget for running your business. Be honest about how much money you need in order to pay your bills and invest in your business. Many pet-sitting businesses close because the owner did not evaluate how many visits they would need to perform in order to meet their basic financial needs.

4. Evaluate the competition. Make sure you understand what the other pet-sitters in your area are already doing, and what you can do better or more efficiently. If there are no other pet sitting companies in your area, find out what your potential customers currently do to care for their pets when they can't be there.

5. Set realistic rates. Yes, you love pets and you can't believe that you can get paid to have fun - that's what a great many star athletes say too, yet they manage to make millions of dollars each year. You won't likely be able to draw clients in by charging thousands of dollars for your services, but you won't be able to serve pets well if you quit in 6 months because you need more money to survive.

6. Listen to pet-lovers. Ask pet owner's what is most important about their pet's care. Never imagine that you know everything - a pet owner always knows their pet best. Listen and you will learn how to serve them better.

7. Enjoy the people. I often joke that "Until that puppy can write a check, I work for his Mom!" And it's true. The people who love their pets are your customers - even if you don't see them. Check in with them and find out how they feel about your service. Make sure they understand that you are happy to work with them and you appreciate being part of their care giving 'family.'

8. Make business decisions. You are in business, so treat yourself like a business owner. If you intend to work as a sole proprietor, make a decision to work only with the clients that contribute the most to your bottom-line.

9. Build Alliances. Work with the other pet-sitters in your area. If you need a back-up or you are booked, you need to know the other quality caregivers who service your area. You can ruin your great reputation simply by recommending someone who doesn't live up to your standards.

10. Build alliances with other small business owners in your area. Who better understands the 'downside' of pet ownership than the dry cleaner or housekeeping service in your neighborhood? Their businesses are based partially on the pet-owning clients in your area. Ask to place your cards in their shops, or if you can run put a flyer in their monthly bills sent to their clients.

11. Serve the client, not your ego. It's a heady experience to feel the power of running a business and sometimes you will think you know what's best when caring for someone else's pets. Realize that you need to ride the fine line between educating customers and talking down to them.

12. Be genuine. Everyone wants to work with someone "real." When people are making decisions about letting a stranger into their home to care for their most precious possession, they want to feel that you are a real human being with an understanding and appreciation of their relationship with their pet. You need to be a business person with a heart - have all your forms and policies in place, but let your personality shine through.

13. Believe in yourself. This is the most important success factor I have found. Define your success by your rules and wake up every day with the knowledge that you can and will succeed.

14. Ignore the naysayers. Plenty of people are going to doubt you when you tell them this is your goal. Don't listen. Surround yourself with people who believe in you and never stop moving forward.

15. Create systems to work smarter. Everything can be systemized to help you get everything done. Make a list of all your 'must dos', 'should dos' and 'want-to-dos' and determine how often they happen (annually, quarterly, monthly, weekly, and daily). Sit down with a calendar and plug in the activities that will accomplish your lists.

16. Network. Just like building alliances, you need to step up your 'face-time' in your community. Investigate several networking opportunities in groups that are industry specific (like pet-rescue organizations, pet-sitter networks) and business or community specific (like the Chamber of Commerce, or NAWBO). After visiting several, select the ones that are most effective for your business - both in terms of referrals for new business and for educational purposes.

17. Evaluate. If something is working (or not) for you - find out why. Ask questions of everyone - your happy (and unhappy) clients. Find out what keeps happy customers coming back. If someone decides not to hire you for their pet's care, ask them what influenced their decision. If their decision was based on an area where you can't compromise - you won't provide every other day service for cats - move on. If it's something you can improve upon - they thought you were too abrupt on the phone - fix it! Get to the heart of what drives your business and take time each day to improve.

18. Set goals and action plans. You must know what your objectives are for you and your business. When you envision your life in a year, three years and ten years, what will you be doing? How will your business be running? Whether you intend to serve ten clients for life, or you want to establish the top pet-sitting franchise in North America and Europe - you need to have a goal and a plan.

19. Find your niche and stick to it. When I started peggiespets.com, I was intimidated by narrowing to a niche. By defining your niche and marketing to them, you are not turning away other business (our niche is big dogs and puppy potty training) you can continue to accept all the business you want that is outside of your niche (ask all the terriers, birds and rabbits we care for!).

20. Strive for success everyday. Never compromise your ideals to meet someone else's expectations. The reason you started your own business is because of your passion, so always stand by your convictions and work hard to exceed your expectations each day.

NOTE: You'll encounter people who don't do business the way you do, and you'll find clients that don't live up to your expectations...don't lecture, don't get on your soapbox, just politely point them in a different direction.

21. Help someone else succeed. The more you give away, the more you will receive. Whether you are helping another pet-care business get started (with more than 65 million dogs and 77 million cats in American households according to APPMA- there's room for more pet-care providers!) or you're helping another person achieve their dream, you will be more successful because you participated!

Follow these tips to achieve your own brand of pet-care business success!

Peggie Arvidson-Dailey is the founder of Pet Care Business University and the Pet-Care Business Success System™. She is the author of several articles on small business success and has been radio guest on “This Week in Small Business” on the topic of Customer Satisfaction. As a trainer and coach she has helped people across the country create and build the pet-care business of their dreams. Visit http://www.peggiespets.com for more information.

peggie@peggiespets.com

We have been talking about ignition systems and their repair, but one important component is flywheel removal. Especially if you have an engine with points. Typically the points are underneath the flywheel, and when they go bad, the flywheel must be removed.

You will discover that flywheels have illusive retention devices, in particular the rapid rewind systems that include ball bearings.

You will also discover that once you figure out how to remove the "rapid rewind cog system" that the flywheel is fixed pretty hard on the crank shaft.

This article is about:

- How to first of all remove the "rapid rewind cog system."

- Secondly how to remove the stubborn flywheel

- And finally how to put it all back together again.

It should be noted that the flywheel has fins on it. If any of these fins become broken, the engine will become out of balance and vibrate intensely. If the fins are broken, the flywheel is junk, so be very careful around the fins.

To remove the "rapid rewind cog" use a pipe wrench and a screw driver. The pipe wrench is put on the "rapid rewind cog" and the screw driver is inserted in between the cast iron fins. (Note: there are aluminum fins, stay away from them, they will break)

Rotate the crank shaft so that the screw driver is pressed against an immovable object. Another method which is more forgiving, is to wedge a piece of wood (this works best when the engine is mounted to the engine mounts on the go kart) under the flywheel. This acts like a wedge brake.

Gently press down on the pipe wrench. Excessive force is not needed here. The "rapid rewind cog" generally comes off rather easily then.

A note with respect to the "rewind cog": unless you like chasing ball bearings all over the floor, keep in mind that typically a screen covers the rewind. Remove the screen, BUT put the retention screws back in place right away. This makes the "rewind cog" stay together, and also be accessible to the pipe wrench.

Next the flywheel is stuck on the crank shaft with a press fit. Actually the flywheel is press fit using a cone shaft aperture on the crankshaft. The object is to "pop" the press fit. To do this generally a shock needs to be introduced into the system.

There are two methods that work best. First shock the end of the crank shaft with a very hard piece of wood and a mallet. Note: do not use steel on steel, the end of the crank shaft will become mushroomed over and become unusable. Repair is usually not doable.

There are tools available that you put on the end of the crankshaft, but even they can damage the crankshaft. So be careful to use minimal blows on the crank. And in case I did not make myself clear, the blows are normal, or perpendicular, or axial to the crankshaft, not to the side of the crank, but to the end of it.

Sometimes that does not work. If the engine has been sitting around for years, or is over 10 years old, the crank may have rusted partially to the flywheel.

Use a little penetrating oil at the flywheel, crank interface.

Then pry the back of the flywheel, very gently, and evenly with a flat head screw driver, or even a prybar. Very light action is needed. If you are reefing on the screw driver, there is something wrong. (something else is holding the flywheel on!)

The flywheel should "pop" off right away, so be sure to catch it before it flies off and falls on the floor. I suggest having a catch system such as rags or cardboard.

To reinstall the flywheel put it back together the same way it came apart. Use the pipe wrench and the screw driver method to tighten the "rewind cog."

Again, do not over tighten the "rewind cog." Also take note that the washer was put back in place.

Just as a side note, the only real reason a flywheel should be removed on modern magneto style engines is if the key way sheared. If the key way sheared you should be looking at other areas on the engine for damage...

The Go Kart Guru is a Go Karting Design, Fabrication and Performance specialist. Topics ranging from Turbo Charged Go Karts to Wood Go Karts, the Go Kart Guru has something to say (that will help you!) about it. Visit http://GoKartGuru.com for more details.

And for those with Vertical Lawnmower Engines, there is a special section just for you! Don't throw away that vertical engine just yet!

Here are the consensus bowl picks from the SportGamble.us staff.

Tue., Dec. 14

New Orleans Bowl

North Texas vs Southern Mississippi

SG's Pick: North Texas

If the So. Miss defense can stop Jamario Thomas from adding to his gaudy stats they should be able to keep this one close.

7:30 pm

Tue., Dec. 21

Champs Sports Bowl

Georgia Tech vs Syracuse

SG's Pick: Georgia Tech

7:45 pm

Wed., Dec. 22

GMAC Bowl

Memphis vs Bowling Green

SG's Pick: Bowling Green

I want to pick Memphis to win this battle, but the Falcon's scoring offense, 4th in the nation, will simply outscore Memphis regardless of how well they play.

8:00 pm

Thur., Dec. 23

PlainsCapital Fort Worth Bowl

Cincinnati vs Marshall

SG's Pick: Marshall

Marshall has shown up to play in big games this year. I consider a bowl game a "big" game, wouldn't you?

6:30 pm

Las Vegas Bowl

Wyoming vs UCLA

SG's Pick: UCLA

UCLA should burn Wyoming with it's passing and running game. Although, Wyoming is playing in it's first bowl game in 11 years...that's certainly motivating.

9:45 pm

Fri., Dec. 24

Hawaii Bowl

UAB vs Hawaii

SG's Pick: Hawaii

NCAA's all time passing leader should have a hay-day against this no show UAB defense

7:00 pm

Mon., Dec. 27

MPC Computers Bowl

Fresno State vs 18 Virginia

SG's Pick: Virginia

Fresno State failed to play with the big dogs this season and Virginia is on the horizon to become one.

2:00 pm

Motor City Bowl

Toledo vs Connecticut

SG's Pick: Toledo

Connecticut has a football team? Well, that's what we would have said last season but they have a QB that can rip the secondary. You probably haven't heard of him but the NFL scouts know him very well. Connecticut has a chance if they grasp the mindset they had when meeting Pittsburgh earlier in the year.

5:30 pm

Tue., Dec. 28

Independence Bowl

Iowa State vs Miami (Ohio)

SG's Pick: Iowa State

Iowa State's explosive offense will give Miami all they want...plus some.

6:30 pm

Insight Bowl

Oregon State vs Notre Dame

SG's Pick: Notre Dame

Notre Dame is going to fight its heart out in defense of Tyrone Willingham. Oh, did we mention they're a pretty good football team anyway?

9:45 pm

Wed., Dec. 29

Houston Bowl

Texas-El Paso vs Colorado

SG's Pick: Texas-El Paso

Jordan Carson (name sound familiar?) will finally have his chance to showcase his talent on national television. Colorado is still wondering what happened in the Big 12 championship...

4:30 pm

Alamo Bowl

24 Ohio State vs Oklahoma State

SG's Pick: Ohio State

Oklahoma State is no stranger to big games. Unfortunately, they haven't learned how to win them.

8:00 pm

Thur., Dec. 30

Continental Tire Bowl

25 Boston College vs North Carolina

SG's Pick: Boston College

North Carolina has a lack of "big game" experience while Boston College has the "secret to success" for winning bowl games, they've won 4 straight.

1:00 pm

Emerald Bowl

New Mexico vs Navy

SG's Pick: Navy

Did we say Navy? That's right! These guys finally learned how to play football.

4:30 pm

Holiday Bowl

4 California vs 23 Texas Tech

SG's Pick: California

Cal will punish Texas Tech for being pushed out of the BCS picture.

8:00 pm

Silicon Valley Bowl

Troy vs Northern Illinois

SG's Pick: Northern Illinois

Troy has never been to a bowl game and they're not ready to win one either. N. Illinois has a ground attack that will out-muscle this Troy defense.

11:00 pm

Fri., Dec. 31

Music City Bowl

Alabama vs Minnesota

SG's Pick: Alabama

This isn't because we like the SEC. Minnesota isn't playing at home...

12:00 pm

Sun Bowl

Purdue vs 21 Arizona State

SG's Pick: Purdue

Arizona State is coming with their 2nd string QB that Purdue's young, yet darn good, defense should contain. Expect Purdue to light up the score board in this one!

2:00 pm

Liberty Bowl

10 Boise State vs 7 Louisville

SG's Pick: Louisville

This may be bowl game of the year. If you like fast attack offenses and aggressive scoring, this game is for you! Vegas will be exploding with "total points" bets on this one.

3:30 pm

14 Miami (FLA.) vs 20 Florida

Peach Bowl

SG's Pick: Florida

If Chris Leak (Gators) isn't the best QB in the land he will be. When the Gators are operating on all cylinders I would pick them to beat anyone in the country. Keep an eye on this one because it should be a money maker!

7:30 pm

Sat., Jan. 1

Cotton Bowl

15 Tennessee vs 22 Texas A&M

SG's Pick: Tennessee

The Vols simply ran out of time in the SEC championship. I suspect they will pick up where they left off. Neither team "should" be here so it will definitely be one of the better games to watch.

11:00 am

Outback Bowl

16 Wisconsin va 8 Georgia

SG's Pick: Georgia

Wisconsin can play offense buy GA's fast defense will stop the run and force Wisconsin to throw resulting in too many mistakes to overcome. Georgia wins.

11:00 am

Gator Bowl

17 Florida State va West Virginia

SG's Pick: Florida State

Florida State has put the lost to Florida behind them. Bowden's ability to dominate bowl games has a "W" written all over it.

12:30 pm

Capital One Bowl

11 Iowa vs 12 LSU

SG's Pick: LSU (restrictions apply...)

LSU is young but managed to fight their way to a good bowl game this year. If LSU's defense can keep the score close they can pull this one off.

1:00 pm

Rose Bowl

13 Michigan vs 6 Texas

SG's Pick: Texas

If Mack can persuade his players they're as good as he did the nations coaches Texas will overcome a solid Michigan team.

4:30 pm

Fiesta Bowl

5 Utah vs 19 Pittsburgh

SG's Pick: Utah

Pittsburgh slipped through the back door to win the Big East but I'm afraid Utah will show Pitt what it's like to play with the Big Boys.

8:30 pm

Mon., Jan. 3

Sugar Bowl

3 Auburn vs 9 Virginia Tech

SG's Pick: Auburn

Auburn should be playing for the national title. Look for Auburn to win big for the slight possibility of sharing the title.

8:00 pm

Tue., Jan. 4

Orange Bowl

1 Southern California vs 2 Oklahoma

SG's Pick: Oklahoma

This one should come down to the last quarter. Oklahoma should prevail with stamina.

8:00 pm

SportGamble.us [http://SportGamble.us] is a community-oriented sports and sports gambling portal featuring news articles, high quality resources, spreads, message boards, blogs, and more.

This article goes into the basics of tennis for beginners. What are the first things you have to do when starting to play tennis? At what age should you begin? And what's the best tennis racquet to begin with?

To start, one of the best ways of learning to play tennis is to use your body's natural abilities. If you do this the right way, you will build up thousands of natural muscle connections. It will ensure that you can keep on developing and never run into a dead end along the way.

First Steps to Take

Three things are crucial to me when it comes to tennis for beginners:

Step 1 - In case you have never had previous tennis coaching, then find yourself a tennis coach who can teach you the fundamentals. Only when you have learned the basics of tennis, you can move on to more advanced stuff.

Step 2 - This is about really delving into tennis through reading, watching tennis games, and practicing tennis as much as you possibly can. My favorite motto is "sleep, drink, eat tennis".

Step 3 - Now it's time to learn specific baseline tactics and other tennis drills for beginners. The goal should be to develop as quickly as you possibly can. Your focus should be to win - playing tennis is not the same as hitting balls!

When to Start?

What is the best age to start playing tennis? The answer to this question really depends on your goals. If you really want to become part of the top 100 tennis players in the world, then you should start as young as possible. Remember that a famous tennis player like Andre Agassi picked up a tennis racquet before he could even walk. Boris Becker won Wimbledon at the age of 17, and Rafael Nadal was winning professional tournaments at age 16. One exception is Vince Spadea, but even he started playing tennis at the grand old age of 14.

The reason for this, is that young children can effortlessly develop their coordination just like young children can learn any language without effort.

However, don't let these sobering facts stop you from starting to play tennis. Even if you don't become a top 100 tennis player, tennis is still an excellent way to develop mental strength and fitness. And don't forget that for talented amateurs, Europe has leagues that pay you to represent their club. Also, many tennis players who don't make it to the top, still get good paying jobs as tennis coaches.

Your First Tennis Racquet

When you buy your first tennis racquet, it doesn't have to be a professional racquet. But unless you are particularly light or young, it should be an adult racquet. If you weigh under 80 pounds, you should go for a junior racquet, meaning any racquet under 27 inches.

Particularly, you should try to avoid the following:

Racquets with a head size under 100 square inches. Racquets with a larger head size make it easier to hit the ball and such racquets also give the player more power as they have a larger sweet spot.

"Head light racquets" that have their weight based in the handle, as they are particularly meant for advanced players and not for beginners.

Racquets that start to weigh in at under 280 pounds. Very light racquets are meant for players who are very light themselves. However, once you start off with a very light racquet, it is typically hard to change to a proper one later. So it's better never to start with a light racquet in the first place.

Aluminium racquets for beginners are the cheapest and can already be bought for $30 to $70. As you advance, you can switch to a graphite racquet which are available in the $80 to $330 price range.

Max Gregor is the editor of How-2-Tennis.com, a complete information resource for beginning and advanced tennis players. Find more about tennis terminology at his site.

SELF-EMPLOYMENT AND YOU

The world of self-employment can be a personally and financially rewarding one for the right individual. Many people dream of owning their own business but don't believe it will ever happen for them. The majority of these folks see all the positives of working for yourself, but lack the drive and determination to make the transition from employee to employer.

Self-employment is the ticket to higher earnings without limit and the right to control and work your own schedule. But it's not easy work. A lot of self-employed people are working longer hours and weeks than ever in their own business. The difference is they are doing work they truly enjoy, and are getting paid for it!

You have the talent and ability to work on your own! Perhaps you're just not sure what business you'd like to specialize in.

Sales aren't just the slick folks on the automobile showroom who want to know what it will take to get you in that car today. Selling is the process by which a product reaches a consumer. It can take many forms. If you have some preconceived ideas about sales right now, erase them from your mind. Start with a clean slate by remaining open to all possibilities in your home-based businesses.

After all, if you're marketing a product you would buy yourself, it will be easy to convince others of its value. Since you're selecting the right business opportunity, you'll unquestionably choose the business that has the most appeal to you. Selling something you love almost never feels like work, or real selling!

HOW TO GET STARTED

If you currently have a job, you may want to break into your home-based business on a part-time basis until you've built up enough earnings base to leave. There will probably be no greater feeling than when you walk out the door and into a business where you call the shots!

If you're between jobs, then by all means go at this full-force. All you need to do is to contact the businesses listed here that interest you and begin the process of determining if this is right for you.

There may be several opportunities here that are franchises. There is no available data that says that electing to go the franchise route to start your business has any lower success rate than beginning a new business from scratch. Again, view these choices with an open mind and investigate the opportunity thoroughly before making the commitment. If you're working part or full time, you can, perhaps, be even choosier.

THE TOP 10 WAYS TO EARN MONEY AT HOME

1. ANTIQUES

The buying and selling of antiques has been and should continue to be a very productive business, financially, for those that do it. Here, you only need an extra room in the house, or the use of your garage -- and you have an office!

If you have a large home that has some antique furnishings, you might consider turning it into a showroom for your antique acquisitions and sales, providing you satisfy any local zoning regulations. The interest in antiques will survive into the foreseeable future. Many people choose to spend their free time on the weekends "antiquating" from place to place to try and pick up a few odds or ends and maybe a jewel or two. If you know anything about antiques, this may be a great opportunity for you.

For more information, check out the book, "Buying and Selling Antiques", by Don Cline and Sara Pitzer. Your local library may be filled with other publications on this subject that can get you started quickly. Your only overhead may be inventory and advertising!

2. BAKING

Have you ever been told that you have a recipe which people would line up to get if they could? Ever had anyone tell you that you should be selling those cupcakes you make? There are a number of success stories about people who have launched successful businesses by cooking at home and then marketing to local people first. Word of mouth on a good product may start to get restaurants or bakeries interested in acquiring your culinary masterpieces. Then you progress to selling them state-wide and presto! A winning home-based business!

For more practical advice on the assorted aspects of setting up a specialty foods business, you should contact your local U.S. Department of Agriculture Home Extension Agent in your county. Since every U.S. county has such an individual, that person shouldn't be hard to find!

3. BED AND BREAKFAST PROPRIETOR(S)

Have you ever stayed in a bed and breakfast and thought, "hey, I can do this!" You probably went on vacation and simply chalked your thought up as one of those pipedreams one gets when they stay in a beautiful spot.

Don't toss that thought away! While it's not easy work as the hours can be long and it's usually a seven days per week business, it's often something that you can work into a daily schedule. After all, it's merely an extension of doing the housework for family, right? More and more Americans are taking after Europeans and opening their homes to travelers. If you have an extra room or two since the kids moved out, you can start a bed and breakfast in your own place!

Bed and breakfast popularity will continue as more and more vacationers and business travelers seek a different accommodation away from the predictability of the average hotel room. If they enjoy their stay, many become "repeat" customers, coming back to the same familiar surroundings time and again.

If you don't need to do any major renovations in the house to accommodate this type of establishment, you can be off and running with very little money invested, other than advertising and some new "guest room supplies". If your dream is to buy a bed and breakfast somewhere in a vacation paradise, there are probably houses for sale that will work for this purpose.

Whatever your design, there are several good books on the subject of starting your own bed and breakfast, including "Start Your Own Bed and Breakfast", by Beverly Mathews. Check them out at your local library.

4. CHILD CARE

Due to the financial pressures many families face today, many parents work outside of the home to bring in enough income to pay daily living expenses. A single parent is obviously working but all too often both members of a two parent family are in the workforce.

This creates a home-based opportunity. Children must be watched, all day if they're not in school, or, otherwise, for a brief time after school before the parents finish work for the day.

Caring for one additional child may not be that lucrative, but taking care of several children can certainly be a full-time, financially successful business. Often, taking care of several children is made somewhat easier as the youngsters often will play together.

You can do this at home for only a small investment in basic equipment and toys for the kids in addition to the advertising of your business. There are several publications that address starting this type of business, including "Family Day Care", by Betsy Squibb.

Another resource is the Day Care Council of America, 5730 Market Street, Oakland, CA. 94608.

5. COMPUTER SPECIALIST

The advent of the computer age has changed the concept of self-employment. Having a computer at home has opened a number of opportunities for running your own business utilizing this equipment. Companies everywhere are "outsourcing" work that can be done by someone else on their computer, out of their own home.

If you're not that familiar with a computer, there are many low-cost (or free) seminars and classes that will teach you what equipment you need and how to use it.

If you're a whiz in computers, you may end up working as a consultant, writing programs for companies. If you're a beginner, you may find yourself able to obtain work as a writer, using your computer to produce copy that's easy to edit. You can also keep accounting and payroll records for companies on your computer's database.

Word processing software can be used not only for writers but for those that can offer secretarial services out of their house. Desktop publishing software can allow you to do newsletters for businesses and other organizations.

For more educational data, contact the Information Resources Clearinghouse at Syracuse University's School of Education, 030 Huntington Hall, 150 Marshall Street, Syracuse, N.Y. 13244. Their phone number is (315) 443- 3640.

There are a substantial number of good publications, too. Your local library will have several books on computer occupations. If you can operate a computer, you can find work in the information age today.

6. GARDENING

If you like working in your garden each year and growing vegetables for your family to eat, it's a definite possibility for home-based employment. Imagine clearing a little more space and growing more items that you can sell directly to the consumer.

Most produce stands will buy from you if your product is one of high quality. If you enjoy gardening, this could be your ticket! If you have some more land to use, do it! Plant what you can, when you can! Contact your local produce stands to ascertain their buying habits.

You can even inquire about your own produce stand if you have enough product. The more space you have on your land, the more likely you will be able to generate enough crops to run the business.

People love home-grown vegetables. They just don't have the time or want to be bothered doing it themselves. That's your open door!

For more information, consult books like "Plants for Profit," and "A Complete Guide to Growing & Selling Greenhouse Crops", by Francis Jozwik.

7. IMPORTER AND DISTRIBUTOR

There are a substantial number of products manufactured in other countries which can be bought inexpensively and sold here in the United States at a profitable level. The recent passages of the Congressional bills, NAFTA and GATT, may make it easier to bring in other products from other countries.

This is a business easily operated out of the home, depending on the types of stock you're carrying. You may have to rent some storage space, but the capital required to start should essentially be limited to the products you're buying to sell here.

Two good resources for you are:

* American Importers Association Membership Directory, 420 Lexington Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10017; and

* American Register of Importers and Exporters, 38 Park Row, New York, N.Y. 10038.

You can also look at books in your library such as "How To Make A Fortune In Import/Export", by Howard R. Goldsmith, obviously an optimistic look at this type of business.

If you know the type of product you want to import and the market most likely to purchase your goods, you have great potential for a successful home-based business.

8. INTERIOR DECORATOR

While this business will require you to be out and about, meeting with customers, it's the type of work many people would love to do. If you have a fascination for decorating a home, this could be your line of work.

Many people don't know where to start when they are remodeling or buying a house for the first time. If you have the knowledge of colors and patterns and what looks good together, plus the expertise of knowing where to get materials and furnishings, this can be a winning home-based business for you.

One excellent resource to consult is the "Interior Design Directory", available through Whitney Communication Corporation, 1050 E. 58th Street, New York, N.Y. 10155.

9. PHOTOGRAPHER

The sky's the limit here! Armed with your trusty camera and some good advertising, you can do weddings, models, family portraits, passports, student photos, local newspaper coverage; almost anything that requires a picture!

You can easily start this work, part-time, and work into full-time work based on your success and inclination. Not much equipment is necessary to get going as a camera off the store shelf can often do the trick today. Picking up a tripod and having a room sufficient for developing your pictures, and you're in business -- at home!

There are a number of excellent books available in your local library to get you started on the path of professional photography.

10. SEWING & ALTERATIONS

Many people love to sew. If you're one of them, consider offering this service out of your home. When someone buys a new outfit, it rarely fits perfectly, meaning some kind of alteration must be done.

People look long and hard to find reliable individuals to do their alterations. If you can sew, you're well on your way to opening the doors of this type of business.

One resource you can review is "Sewing for Profit", by Judith and Allan Smith. Or your library will have a handful of capable publications on starting up this type of business.

These are our suggestions as to the top 10 ways to earn money at home, enough to be a full-time self-employed businessperson!

But there are many other opportunities. The listings that follow may give you some other ideas you need to get started in business for yourself.

SUMMARY

Are you ready to start up your own business now?

Whether you begin from scratch or invest in a franchise, the time has never been better to get a home- based business off the ground. It's become almost routine in the business world to work with independent contractors. Many times, it's more cost-effective, too.

Most of these businesses do not require a substantial amount of start-up cash. Many of these franchise opportunities offer financing.

With Internet's help, your home business can be moved online and expand globally. Your profit will be significantly improved if you can integrate your traditional business into online business.

---------------------------------------------------------
Julia Tang publishes Smart Online Business Tips, a fresh
and informative newsletter dedicated to supporting people
like you! To find out the best online business opportunities,
and to discover hundreds more proven and practical internet
marketing secrets, plus FREE internet marketing products
worth over $200, visit: http://www.best-internet-businesses.com
----------------------------------------------------------

Note: Feel free to publish it with the resource box and content unchanged

Education never ends - it is not said without reason. We are educated all our lives and getting an education not only is a great achievement but something that gives you the tools to find your own way in the world. Education is indispensable; little do we realize how much more it can bring to us in terms of worldly amplifications. Anyone can have propensity and the natural endowment for education. But one might not have the resources to finance their education. You certainly can't let lack of resources impede you from advancing your prospects through education. Then you accidentally stumble upon the word 'education loans'. Loans for education - you have never thought about it as a feasible arrangement. Education loans can open newer panoramas in regard to your education aspirations.

Education loans are open to all people in all its myriad forms. Education loans can realize your education plans or the education plans of your children. You can strengthen you own future and the future of your son or daughter with education loans. An extensive range of student and parent loans are presented under the category of education loans. There are many types of education loans. Discerning about the types of education loans will help you in making the accurate decision. The single largest resource of education loans is federal loan. The two main federal education loan programmes are the Federal Family Education Loan Programme and the Federal Direct Loan Programme. In the Federal Family Education Loan Programme the bank, credit union or the school is the lender. While the federal direct loans programme, the department of education is the lender.

Private education loans are offered to people so that they can provide financial backup to their education plans. Private education loans are not endorsed by other government agencies but are provided by other financial institutions. Private education loans programme are optimum for both undergraduate and graduate studies.

Formal education is requisite for future success. Though this is not a hard and fast rule, but education certainly helps you in gaining an upper hand. With universities getting expensive by each day an education loan will certainly give you an incentive to go ahead with your education plans. Each year while contemplating on your education plans the thought of finances almost invariably comes in. While working towards you degree, you are constantly plagued about paying for the education fees, books, and other living expenses. Education loans can provide funding for tuition fees, board and room, books computer, and even student travel. An education loan can help you with all these expenses. Education loans are sufficient enough to take care of all these expenses. If you have been forced to drop your education for any reason, you can still take up your education at any point of time. Irrespective of your age and also where you have left your education.

There are no specific eligibility criteria for education loans. Any person who is in need of sponsorship for education can find an education loan that befits his or her financial necessity. Loan amount on education loans vary with the kind of education you want to pursue. The repayment options with education loans will similarly accommodate your personal financial preferences. You can either repay interest amount while still in school or six months after graduation. Education loans offer upto ten years for repayments. The refund alternatives on education loans also include deferment, forbearance and consolidation. The various sites on education loans can give you innumerable repayment options and monetary remuneration.

Education loans will help you in planning your life after graduation. However, an education loan like every loan is a huge financial obligation. An education loans is generally the first substantial loan for most people and therefore the first major expense. Do not be completely dependent on your education loans for the funding of your complete education. Try to apply for any other financial sustenance like university grants, scholarships, fellowships, work study programmes and assistance ship and any other form of aid. This will certainly encourage a fluid dispensation of your education loans. You can start by going to the financial aid office in your school or university. It will provide you further insight to the kind of education loans, you must apply for.

Education is an experience of life. It is so rewarding in itself that it helps you to manage almost everything in your life. Education loans discipline your impulse towards education and training into a fruitful contrivance. The payoff is delicious in terms of improved quality of life. Education is expensive! Is it? With education loans it can't be. Now, you don't have to take the road in front of you. Make your own road with education loans.

Amanda Thompson holds a BachelorÂ’s degree in Commerce from CPIT and has completed her masterÂ’s in Business Administration from IGNOU. She is as cautious about her finances as any person reading this is. She is working as financial consultant for http://www.chanceforloans.co.uk To find a Personal loans,bad credit loans,debt consolidation loans that best suits your needs visit http://www.chanceforloans.co.uk

Bowling has been a popular sport for Americans and other nationalities. Over 50 million Americans are into bowling and more and more people around the world are becoming addicted to it.

Bowling is a leisure activity that provides many health and physiological benefits. Bowling may be a form of relaxation to many or a way to bond with families and friends. A person does not need to be a pro to enjoy this kind of sport.

Bowling alleys are special facilities where people participate in the sport of bowling. These alleys provide lanes for bowling and other amenities.

Here are the factors to consider when choosing a bowling alley:

1. The location of the bowling alley should be taken into consideration. An alley close to his/her home location will make it convenient and inviting. A bowling alley close to his/her workplace could also be considered so that he/she could easily go to the bowling alley after work.

2. The facilities of the alley should also be considered. Many bowling alleys now have modern facilities like electronic scoreboards. People are attracted to places where the facilities are modern.

3. The employees working at the bowling alley should be friendly and accommodating. Employees who are friendly will make the place inviting. The instructors should also be friendly and willing to help with all the needs of the bowlers, especially the beginners. Bowlers should be able to learn many techniques from instructors that are friendly and willing to share their skills.

4. The bowling alleys should be clean and properly maintained. Bowlers go to alleys to enjoy and relax. If the alley is not clean and properly maintained, bowlers will not be comfortable. All facilities should also be properly maintained to provide safety for the bowlers.

5. There are generally many bowling alleys that may be found in any city. A person may search the Internet to check the nearest bowling alley and may also read reviews about the bowling alley. Many bowling alleys also have cafeterias where players can eat and mingle with other bowlers.

Bowling alleys contribute to the interest of many people in the sport and should be a place where fun and enjoyment may be experienced. They should be welcoming to bowlers and provide them all the things necessary to entice bowlers to become regular customers.

Equipment and Accessories for Bowling

Whether a professional bowler or not, it is recommended that you have the proper equipment and accessories before heading to the lanes. Here are some accessories that should be considered:

Bowling Balls

Bowling balls are the most important equipment in bowling. When buying bowling balls, some features should be considered. They are the weight, size of the ball holes, and whether the balls are designed for right-handed or left-handed persons. There are also three types of balls: beginner, intermediate and the advanced bowling balls. Kids may also buy bowling balls that are designed specifically for them. There are also bowling alleys that provide/rent bowling balls to players.

Bowling Shoes

Bowling shoes are also necessary in bowling. Bowling shoes are not just ordinary shoes; each shoe in the pair serves a purpose. One shoe is designed for better sliding while the other is for braking. Most bowling alleys provide/rent shoes to their customers. When choosing bowling shoes, it is important to consider the size. They should not be too loose or too tight on the feet. The bowler must be able to move comfortably.

Bowling Shirts

Like other sports, proper clothing is necessary and must be comfortable. Specially designed bowling shirts with collars are worn by professional bowlers. However, if the player is just an ordinary bowler, any regular shirt with collar will do as long as it fits comfortably and not be a distraction while bowling.

Bowling Gloves

Bowling gloves are very beneficial to bowlers. These are used to provide a better grip of the ball. Bowling gloves help players throw a ball accurately and with power. Gloves are helpful in supporting the wrist and making a smooth delivery possible.

Bowling Towels

Towels are important and used to wipe the oil residue from the balls. Towels may be improvised or there are special bowling towels available in sports supply stores.

Other accessories may also be considered like bags, face towels, wrist bands and bowling ball cleaners and polishers. All these accessories are beneficial in providing mobility and comfort to bowlers. If one is interested in getting into the bowling lanes, then he or she may avail one of these accessories for his own.

Paul Bittle is the owner of Bits N Wits [http://www.bitsnwits.com] an information web site. Search the web, our directories, free courses, plus add your article or URL link for free.

Dog-child interaction is the single most important issue to deal with if you have a child and a dog. Children love dogs but dogs don't always love children. When you bring home a new puppy, your child should be trained together with your dog. Dog owners need to remember that it takes two to tango. Children aren't often taught how to treat a new doggy which can make his life a living hell. This is not only torment for your dog but can be dangerous to your child. Never trust your child alone with ANY dog, regardless of how gentle that dog is known to be. A child tends to know just which buttons to press to turn the gentlest animal into a dangerous beast. Most dogs initially feel threatened by a child because they are at eye level, they have high-pitched voices and make vigorous movements. The dog senses that the child is somewhat unpredictable. Dog-child interaction should be monitored in order to make sure that child and your dog are getting along.

What you should teach your child

• Do not let your child hug the dog until the dog-child relationship has developed and they've become comfortable with each other.
• Children are accustomed to showing their affection with a hug, but some dogs will tolerate it while others will not.
• Never approach a strange dog without asking the owner if it is o.k. to do so.
• Allow the dog to sniff you before you try to pat him.
• Stay away from stray dogs. A stray dog may carry disease or try to attack.
• Never scream or run away from a dog. This will only start a chase.
• Never run towards a dog or around a dog.
• Never approach a dog face to face. This is threatening to them. Always approach a dog from the side. This will allow the dog-child relationship to develop.
• Never look a dog square in the eyes.
• Never tease or hit a dog whether he's loose, tied up, behind a fence or in a crate.
• Never play rough games with a dog, such as tug-of-war. This will encourage a dog to become aggressive.
• Never pat a dog on the head. Always approach him under the chin or on his back.
• Never bother a sleeping dog.
• Never bother the dog while he's eating or chewing his favorite bone.
• A dog is not a toy. Never yank on his ears or pull his tail.
• If a dog poses a threat, teach your child to stay perfectly still with arms at the side, avoid eye contact, don't scream. If there is no one around who can pull the dog away, have your child use a jacket, schoolbag, garbage can cover, or anything he can find as a shield while backing away from the dog slowly.
• If a dog has knocked your child to the ground, he should curl up into a ball with his hands behind his head to protect his face.
• Never give the dog table food.
• Always play with your dog under adult supervision.
• Always be kind to your dog. This will help develop a dog-child friendship.
• Always protect your dog from harm.

What you should know as a dog owner

• Begin obedience training your dog as soon as possible. Don't wait til he gets older, it'll only get harder.
• Never leave your child alone with the dog.
• Never let your child walk the dog alone.
• Never tie up your dog. Provide your dog with a fenced-in space instead.
• Socialize your dog. Get him acquainted with other dogs as early as possible. You should also get him familiar with everything in his environment, both indoors and outdoors. This is key in attempting to establish a great dog-child relationship.
• Reward your dog for good behavior with praise and a treat.
• If you leave your dog in the yard, make sure your fence does not have spaces large enough for a child to stick their hands through.
• Never allow your child to abuse the dog in any way. This will never enable a dog-child relationship to flourish.
• Give your dog a space to call his own to which he can retreat to if he is feeling bothered (such as a crate).
• Do not allow your child to invade your dog's space especially while your dog is eating.
• Get your dog used to being touched on all body parts. This will make him more comfortable around children.
• Teach your dog to maintain a good temperment in the case of having his food bowl taken away while he's eating or removing a chew toy from his mouth. This will allow your dog to be more comfortable having a child around when he's eating or chewing on his favorite toy.
• Teach your child how to properly handle the dog/puppy.
• Walk your dog on a leash. Do not allow him to roam free.
• Keep in mind that just because your dog is wonderful around your own children doesn't mean he will tolerate other children the same way.
• Spay/neuter your dog.

If you have a dog and are expecting a baby

First off, if you haven't read the information above this subhead, go up and do so now. The above information will provide you with all the do's and dont's in preparing your dog for an addition to the family. If your dog has never been around a child for a long period of time, you will have the next nine months to get him used to it. Dog-child interaction is crucial at this stage.

Invite a niece, nephew, cousin, neighbor, etc. over for a few hours a week (Preferably a child who still wears a diaper. This will get the dog used to baby smell as well).

This idea satisfies two objectives: it will get your dog used to having a child around; and will develop your dog's behavior in such a way which allows him to have a dog-child relationship with almost any child. Teach your dog how to behave around a child using much of the information discussed above.

Do not wait until the baby is born in order to make adjustments. Try to make as many adjustments as you can before the baby arrives, this way he won't be hit with all these changes at once. For instance, if you will have to move furniture around to accommodate a high chair or a playpen, this may affect the placement of your dog's bed and bowl. If so, make this move before the baby arrives. This will lessen the impact it will have on your dog and is less likely to affect the dog-child relationship.

Once you have the nursery set up for the baby, teach your dog that he will not be allowed in the room, at all. If he learns this before the baby comes, it will lessen the dog's resentment towards the baby.

Get your dog used to the sounds a baby makes by playing a recording of a baby cooing and crying. Play this recording in the nursery in order to indicate to your dog where exactly he can expect these sounds to be coming from.

Make accommodations for your dog for the day you go into labor. He may have to spend hours alone before daddy's comes home from the hospital.

When it's time to bring the baby home, have someone go into another room with the dog while you put the baby down and get settled. Then bring the baby out and introduce the dog to the baby. The dog will probably give the baby a sniff or two and seek your attention. After all, he hasn't seen you in days. At this point, it would be a good idea to put the baby down and spend some time playing with the dog. Show him he's still loved. This will aid in the development of the dog-child relationship.

Your dog may require some extra attention in the first days of welcoming the baby. This will keep him from resenting the baby for stealing all the attention. Give him your undivided attention.

Allow your dog to be present when changing or feeding the baby.

Never yell at your dog for getting too close to the baby. Allow him to sniff the baby in order to get used to his scent. Make sure this is done under strict supervision. This will help nourish the dog-child relationship.

As the baby gets older, you will teach him to respect the dog and be gentle towards him.

Get your child to help you with dog chores, such as feeding and walking the dog.

Before your know it, a natural dog-child bond will form which will give them a long-lasting friendship for years to come.

Help your child and your dog live in perfect harmony by adhering to these simple rules. Once a good dog-child relationship has been established, this bond will last a lifetime.

If you have trouble controlling your dog, you should bring your dog (and your child) to an obedience class to help you get started.

Nancy Settecasi, Owner of Happy K-9 Dog Care Proud owner of Cookie and Skippy, Cocker Spaniels, Dog lover http://www.happyk-9.com

The role that the educational system should play in the live of people is to educate them to be conscious, critically thinking individuals who do not passively accept knowledge but question the knowledge that is being taught to them. Education should be taught to give students the skills and intelligence they need to understand the world and how the world works in order to survive in it. However, the American educational system has been known to produce students whom are woefully ignorant about the world and different cultures. One of the reasons is because the educational system in its current state does not leave much room for critical thinking but trains individuals to be docile, worker bees in a global economy that keeps the status quo wealthy and "others" barely making it. The problem becomes evident if we look at the varied curriculums and subjects that are being taught. There is a lack of emphasis on academic learning, and the only thing that matters is high stakes testing. The schools in this country have become swamped with fuzzy curriculums that assume that through constant testing, students will be prepared for life in a new global society . . . whatever that is.

I recently had a conversation with a co-worker and we were discussing how African-Americans were treated forty years ago and I was amazed by her naivety about the subject, considering the fact that she was a college graduate and an African-American. From the moment I entered college, I was eager to explore the history of African and African-American history from a view point that did not make them seem sub-human and college affords students that opportunity. I could not help but wonder what type of history and sociological classes she had taken; from her conversation, none. But the sad truth is that when most people make the decision to attend college, it is for the purpose of reaping economic rewards, not for expanding one's consciousness.

In order for the educational system in this country to produce students who are not clueless about its history and the world surrounding them, it should be restructured in several ways. Parental involvement should be mandatory, just as school attendance for students is mandatory for graduation. Lack of parent involvement is an enormous contributing factor to the current failing educational system. Parents need to instill in their children just how detrimental a lack of education is to their future. Teachers are wonderful people who can take students from the top of Mount Olympus to the cold and desolation of Antarctica but they are there to teach, not parent. Many teachers spend a great deal of their class time disciplining children and playing babysitter, two things that are not a part of their job duties. Teachers need involvement from parents in order for the educational system to work and education begins at home.

Funding for the educational system should also be restructured. Public schools are traditionally funded by property taxes which results in a very unequal distribution of educational opportunity. Communities that are wealthy have more funding for their local schools than those who do not. This situation directly affects the quality of education that children in urban and poor rural areas receive. The No Child Left Behind Act will only make it worse because of the required testing and public reporting of results. When parents are buying a new house, they want to live in a school district that has strong test scores. This drives up the property values in those areas, meaning that only affluent families can afford to live in the top performing school districts. This means more property taxes to those areas, while the lower performing schools lose their funding if they do not meet federal standards. There should be a fair tax system for education that is not based on property taxes of homeowners. Government funding, for the most part, is distributed to the various schools by state and local governments and there is huge disparities in this funding based on race. According the text American Education by Joel Spring, there is a gap of more than $1,000 per student nation wide based on race, with large states like New York, Illinois, and Pennsylvania, who lead the nation in their unwillingness to fairly fund education (Spring, pg. 77). Children should not suffer because of their economic background or ethnicity and public education should make no distinction between rich and poor, or black and white. Every child attending a public school should be granted an equal education. Equal funding would grant teachers the proper resources to better educate students. School choice and the privatization of the public school system would not be a factor because under my plan, the educational system in America would be fully and equally funded by the federal government and closely monitored. With the influx of money pouring into the educational system from the government, schools would change dramatically for the better because that is the biggest issue in most public schools: lack of money.

The educational system's curriculum would be changed in order to fit in with the nation's melting pot of different cultures and ethnicities. From elementary to high school, students are bombarded with facts and figures about wealthy, white men as if women and other minorities do not exist or contribute anything worthy to the history of America. No wonder so many students blank out historical facts: they do not care these fact because they cannot relate to the actors in the story. Student should be required to take courses that have will give them a more in depth understanding of the world surrounding them, courses that will discuss the history of marginalized and oppressed individuals in this country and around the world. They should be required to read books that make them think, not just process information for the next test. If more students understood the values and cultures of people unlike themselves, it would not be easy or maybe even possible for the government to lie and use propaganda techniques to lull the masses into believing everything was okay and its leaders competent. High stakes testing would be eliminated because most of the tests are designed by people who do not have a clue about the demographics, ethnicities or economic backgrounds of the students who are to be tested and these tests are biased against minorities and the poor. If students are to be tested, extra tutoring would be available to students, at no cost to the parents.

Having competent teachers, board members, and administrators are also a vital part of restructuring the educational system. Having qualified administrators and board members who know and enforce standards and guidelines is important. What are the qualifications for an administrator? Are there required qualifications? These are the questions that need answers. Just because someone has obtained a degree does not make this person the best for the job. Board members should not be chosen because they golf with the mayor; all board members should have a Master's degree in Education or have an extensive social justice background. As for teachers, the educational system should make sure that the best teachers are chosen for the positions and evaluations should be given frequently. This would give parents and the educational system a chance to find out what is wrong and what is needed to correct the problems. Public education needs teachers and board members that actually care about the children and their education, not individuals who want the perks of working for school system: summers and holidays off, steady raises and a fat compensation package. American children are suffering due to the inadequacies of the individuals involved with the educational system.

The "culture of poverty" theory that has been used by several politicians to explain differences in learning between different ethnicities would be exposed as a blatant attempt by the status quo to "blame" individuals for their poverty if the educational system was restructured to meet the needs of all students, not just the wealthy. Huge educational gaps between poor students and wealthy students do not occur because the poorer students have adapted to their poverty-stricken existence but because they do not have resources needed to succeed in school. If students have to deal with textbooks that are outdated, lack of toiletries, and computers from the late 1980s, their opportunity to advance academically is dismal and their chances of dropping out of school likely.

In a just and an equal society, the educational system I have discussed would have already been implemented decades ago but it has not and more than likely will not. In a hierarchical society such as in America, there will always be someone on the low end of the totem pole and the best way to do that is through the mis-education of its most vulnerable: the children. The neglect of the educational system in the US threatens the economic well being of the entire nation. Unless the inequalities in education is diminished and its system totally restructured, the wealthy gap between the rich and the poor will continue to widen and the US will be infamous for being the nation of the undereducated. Spring, Joel. American Education. (2006). New York: McGraw-Hill

When preparing food for the grill, the greatest challenge for home cooks is that grilling is an intense form of direct heat cooking, and controlling the heat can be tricky. Although most people see it as easy, grilling is actually one of the most challenging of the basic cooking methods. If cooking is like driving a car, grilling is like being strapped to a rocket ship! Now more than ever, creative home cooks are looking for the best cooking tips for gas grills. As the weather starts to get nicer and the great outdoors beckons, attention starts to turn to outdoor cooking - and gas barbeque grills can't be beat for simplicity and convenience. But grilling only becomes EASY when you know these important cooking tips for gas grills that are guaranteed to improve your results. Grilling, like any basic cooking method, can be mastered. These cooking tips for gas grills will get you started on the road to expert grilling any time of year.

Preparing Recipes for the Grill

Cooking all recipes for the grill starts with understanding how the grilling method acts differently on different types of foods. Because grilling is an intense heat form of cooking, careful product selection is extremely important. The grill will not tenderize meats so you must start with a tender product if you want to end with a tender product. Marinating meats when making recipes for the grill is the best way to apply some tenderizing properties before cooking. The product itself is also an important consideration because you want to make sure it will be able to withstand this form of direct high-heat cooking. Different products will handle this differently and some are just not the best choice for standard grilling. A very delicate fish, such as tilapia, will not perform very well on the grill because the high heat may burn the outside of the fish before the inside cooks at all. Another consideration is when grilling combinations of different foods, as in skewering vegetables. A mushroom will cook faster than a carrot or potato, for example. You will achieve far better results by par-cooking the "harder" items prior to skewering so that all vegetables are the correct done-ness at the same time. Once you have considered the differences in the types of foods you will be grilling and preparing them accordingly, the basic procedure for creating recipes for the grill is:

1. Heat the grill on HIGH with the lid closed to heat up the coals and grates to as hot a temperature as possible.
2. Brush the food item with the oil of your choice and place it on the hot grates - presentation side ("pretty side") down.
3. For GRILLING, leave the grill cover OPEN.
4. After a few minutes inspect the item. You are looking for the item to start to brown around the edges and to see pink (almost clear) moisture bubbling up to the top. This will be your signal that the item is 75% cooked on one side and that is the time to flip it.
5. Do not use a fork to flip the item and do not puncture it in any way - because that will allow precious juices to escape.
6. Using an instant-read thermometer - because this is the only real way to know when something is done - remove the item 5-10 degrees BEFORE the desired final internal temperature.

A Gas Grill Cooking Twist

Although GRILLING is always done with the lid cover open, gas grill cooking can incorporate additional cooking methods that make it preferable to cook with the grill cover closed. With the grill lid closed, the grill changes from a CONDUCTIVE cooking vehicle to a CONVECTIVE cooking one - more like your oven. Of course you could just use your oven for using these cooking methods, but outdoor cooking does have some advantages over indoor cooking - particularly in warmer weather. So how do you turn your dry heat, direct source cooking vehicle (the grill) into one that can utilize a moist convective cooking process? It's actually a pretty cool technique for gas grill cooking. This is a trick I use most often with delicate fish, such as tilapia. First, I turn the heat OFF on the side of the grill that my tilapia will cook. Then, I add a pan of water to the bottom of the other side of the grill - right on top of the heat elements. Keep in mind that this "water" can be any kind of liquid you like. I use shrimp stock sometimes with fish, but you can season it with chicken broth, wine - anything that is liquid and imparts nice, complimentary flavors to the product you are cooking. Then, the fish is placed either directly on the grill (if you have a flat grate option) or you can put it in a cast iron pan and put it on the grill grates. The rest of the procedure for this type of gas grill cooking follows the normal grilling process - cook with your eyes and observations, flip after 75% done, use a thermometer to determine final temperature and remove a bit "early" to allow for the carry-over cooking that occurs. And that's it, now you can consider gas grill COOKING in addition to standard GRILLING for great outdoor cooking results.

Gas Barbeque Grills vs Charcoal Grills

You will hear from many self-proclaimed GRILLMASTERS that the traditional charcoal grill is far superior to the gas barbeque grill, but the gas grill has many advantages that make it a great choice for any outdoor cooking situation. I will admit that the charcoal grill provides opportunity for a deep, smoky flavor that is not fully achievable with the gas barbeque grill, but after that all of the "pros" go into the gas grill's column. For starters, the gas grill is much easier and safer to start because it uses propane as fuel and starts at the press of a button. Charcoal grills can be easily started with lighter fluid, but this can be dangerous, and can impart an undesirable taste into the food. Plus, the gas grill turns OFF as easily as it turned on! No waiting for coals to cool so that you can empty and clean the grill and no messy coals to dispose of. The other nice thing about gas barbeque grills is that they allow for consistent heat throughout the cooking process. With the charcoal variety, the cook has to really control the heat by actually moving products closer and further and this takes some practice and experience.

These cooking tips for gas grills seem simple but they truly are the difference between great grilling results and disappointing meals. The next time you get ready to grill, remember that careful product selection and a basic understanding of cooking methods is all you need to master the barbeque grill, creating outdoor meals and memories for life.

Chef Todd Mohr is a classically trained chef, entrepreneur, cooking educator and founder of WebCookingClasses. You CAN learn to cook without written recipes by taking his FREE cooking class that will change the way you think about cooking forever!

Many products are highly competitive and will have many stores and internet sites that will try to give you the best quality at the lowest prices. In the furniture world, you can sometimes find that all the furniture stores are right next to each other or down the street. Often you will find furniture stores right outside the city limits so they can save some money on their real estate costs. These furniture locations want to be able to provide you with the best options when it comes to furniture. Most of the furniture places you will come across have sales people who are commissioned based. So they do not get paid unless they sell you furniture. For every customer that comes in looking for furniture that could be also used as storage, they will do their best to serve them.

What many people are attempting to do is to find a way to save as much space in their rooms so they will find bedroom storage furniture that they can store some things into. You will see that the furniture storage bed seems to be the piece of choice for the room of your child because there are drawers built into the bed. Children have so many toys and other things to keep them busy so they sometimes do not know where to store all of it. Some people invest in children's storage furniture to keep the room de cluttered. You can find children's furniture storage at most of your furniture locations or even your supermarkets. Sometimes you might be surprised at who is selling childrens furniture storage because it seems to be a hot commodity. For some families it is not just the room of their children that is in need of some furniture storage, parents will look for playroom storage furniture so they can easily put things away after everyone is done playing.

There is more of a need for built in storage all over the house. You can find bath storage furniture to hold all of your toiletries and such. Sometimes the bathrooms are not big enough to get a big cabinet in there so people will have to get creative. They will also use basket storage furniture to use in conjunction with other furniture storage. Other needs could be for the home theater room and the person will need DVD and VHS storage furniture to keep things organized. When they need a movie, they know where to find it. When venturing into the garage, you can see some pretty elaborate garage storage furniture in there because if the home owner does not keep it organized, the garage can turn into a place to throw what you do not need.

For those people who have a need for office furniture storage at their homes or in their offices located off site, no one wants to have a cluttered office space. Sitting in a cluttered office will sometimes distract you from you goals. On the other hand some people appreciate the organized chaos. Many offices space is clean and well kept without so much as a speck of dust on the desktops while other offices, have paperwork stacked to the ceiling. Filing cabinets or desks with drawers can come in handy for these types of office spaces that could use the assistance to clean up and organize their areas.

To learn more about bedroom storage furniture visit us at: http://www.royaltyuniverse.com/

Many people think their cat's behaviors are because the cat was abused or neglected. I want to clear this up for you. Abused cats are rare. Most cats are just wary of strangers. Bad behavior is usually because they were never taught correctly or played with aggressively. So, how can you identify an abused or neglected cat? Let's look at what cat abuse and neglect look like and then we can talk about the cat's responses:

Cat Abuse can be intentional or unintentional. Usually, unintentional abuse is called "neglect" and is addressed by humane societies all over the world. There are actually three levels of abuse. Neglect, Over-Discipline (over use of discipline tools) and Intentional Abuse. This article addresses the Neglect, which is the most benign form of abuse.

Description of Neglect -

Neglect means not addressing the animal's primary needs for survival - water, food, shelter, rest and hygienic elimination. Then there is the more severe type, where a cat is forced to live in filth, confined to a cage all the time, or denied companionship with people or other animals. Many times, this can be caused by not spaying or neutering your pet. Unwanted kittens, or too many cats, is the primary cause for almost all of this type of abuse. Sometimes, a person is too ill or has allergies. Maybe a person is trying to keep a cat in an environment that makes it impossible to properly care for a cat.

I remember many years ago, seeing a homeless man walking down the street with his belongings in a shopping cart. Homeless people were harder to find then, so he stood out. He was pushing the cart with one hand and had a carrier with a cat in it, in the other. I felt sorry for both, but being a child, I didn't know what to do. The cat was experiencing neglect, but felt much love. The man, I'm sure, didn't know he was doing harm to the cat. He just knew that he couldn't let his beloved cat go into a shelter - at that time all the shelters I knew of were kill-shelters.

An older cat (over a year) has little chance of coming out of a kill shelter. Most people want a kitten. The grown cats are often given no more than 2 weeks to find a home and then euthanized. This heartbreaking situation often occurs when people lose their homes, develop allergies or find that they just don't want to deal with the discipline and behavior problems that developed in the cat. The single biggest reason people give up a cat is inappropriate elimination. Next, come allergies, followed by death of the cat's owner. Some cats are surrendered because the person moves and is unable to find pet-friendly accommodations.

I understood the man's feelings of love and concern for his feline companion. I also understood that the cat couldn't live in that carrier for long. There was no safe place for them. No homeless shelter would take a man with a cat. In this case, I think the abuse is unintentional - neglect, by description. However, I think the heart of both the cat and the man were in the right place, just that the situation was unfortunate.

In news reports, we sometimes hear of breeding farms where cats are bred to the point of exhaustion and kept in sub-optimal conditions. We hear of people who just keep bringing home strays until they are over-run and can no longer take care of them, and the cats become a neighborhood problem. All of these situations can produce neglect.

Now, let's turn to the cat's response to neglect. How does a cat respond? Why does it do that? By understanding the specific situation and response, we can address the resulting problem behaviors with love, patience and training.

Effects of Neglect

A cat left in a cage with other animals nearby is often skittish and afraid of people. It expects food and a clean litter box on occasion, but cuddles and attention may make it uncomfortable. These cats often have no privacy issues in the cage, but once free, they are very private about their litter habits. If the cat was kept in a small carrier, it may soil itself, or hold back elimination until it is very uncomfortable. It may be dehydrated and need medical attention. The cat will be overweight from lack of activity. It may be apathetic when play is offered, not knowing what is expected. Electric lights may be something that set off a fear response in the cat because it means that people are coming. In other cases, darkness may be scary at first. Once the cat's eyes adjust to the light level, it will be all right, but when the lights are turned off or on, the cat may cry or hiss. In the case of a cat kept in the dark except when people are coming, it may be fearful the entire time the lights are on, while also expecting food, water and a clean litter box to be provided.

What Can We Do to Help These Cats?

These cats don't do well with handling. The less you try to pet, hold or cuddle these cats at first, the better. Let the cat come to you. It will, given time. Be sure to care for it's creature comforts - food, water, bed, clean litter box - but don't expect a cuddly cat for a while. That will come when the cat feels that it can trust you. It may be afraid of the sound of your feet on the floor. It may run when you come into a room. As time goes on, the cat will stay and just watch you. Another time, you may be able to approach and offer a scratch behind the ear. Eventually, you will be able to give a full cuddle. Do not try to pick the cat up, but you can pet it and the cat won't run away or feel assaulted. When the cat responds with a purr, an offer of a cheek or an ear, or you can stroke the spine and the cat isn't trying to run away, then you have a cat that is only cautious of you. Continue until the cat comes for cuddles, which may already be happening. Still do not try to pick the cat up. If it wants your lap, it will come. This cat may still run from you if discovered in a windowsill, on a dresser or surprised in the litter box. Say your cat's name in a conversational tone and the cat will eventually not run away and perhaps allow a stroke. In the case of the litter box, just say the cat's name, but never try to cuddle a cat in the litter box. If you can provide a privacy screen, the cat may stay in the room.

These cats need socialization. They need to learn to live with others outside of a cage. They need gentle discipline and may not know the meaning of the word "no." They will love feeding time but be afraid if you need to walk near their food bowls, and run from the food. Give them time, move slowly and talk gently in their vicinity. They need to learn what people are about in a good way.

Once your cat has learned to trust you a little bit, enough to not run away when you enter a room or even starts to come to you, then you can begin to bond with your cat. A tickler wand is your best friend for this. Gently shake the wand so that the end twitches. Your cat will be interested, but may only watch at first. If your cat goes for it, excellent! When your cat gets hold of the business end of the wand, allow your cat to feel the success by keeping the wand steady for a few moments. When the cat lets go, you can start to twitch it again. The cat will play with you in this manner for quite a while. When the cat tires, put the wand up out of the way so that your cat is forced to play with you, not just the wand. If your cat grabs the wand in it's mouth and tries to run away with it, offer resistance and don't let go of the wand. Some cats want to take the wand and hide it under a couch or in a corner so they can worry over it for a while. Don't allow this - the cat needs to play with you, not just the wand. After about ten days of playing with the wand, you will see your cat become more accepting of its new circumstances. Your cat should assimilate into the household well. There may be people it does not accept, and those persons can also play with the cat to promote bonding.

Under no circumstances should you perpetuate the abuse or neglect! Any discipline needs to be done gently and with care. A squirt bottle, long a favorite tool for discipline, should only be used in the beginning stages of training, while the cat is learning the word "no." After that, you should not need it. Redirection is your best training technique. When your cat gets into or expresses interest in something that you don't want to see it getting involved with, redirect it's attention to something that it is allowed to be involved with or have.

Some of these cats can be clicker trained, but the bond with the person needs to be present, first. Concentrated training to condition the cat to the clicker will be needed. Some cats may be so skittish that even the best treats will not condition the cat to the clicker. If your cat runs from the clicker after a week of conditioning, do not continue. Your cat will never be comfortable with the unexpected noise it makes. You are better clapping your hands and saying "no" to stop bad behaviors than trying to clicker train for positive behaviors.

These cats will be extremely grateful for good treatment. One expression of that love, biting, may not be acceptable - especially if the cat bites hard and uses the canine teeth. Push your hand or finger into the mouth instead of pulling out so that the cat will not be able to bite down and cause you injury. You can push in hard enough to cause the gag reflex, but never harder. Never cause the cat injury in response to an injury to your person. Hitting is never acceptable - but raising a flat hand so that the eyebrow whiskers can feel it is acceptable.

If you must pick up your cat, as in putting the cat in the carrier or removing it to another room, pay attention to the cat's body. Be sure to pick the cat up by the ribs and the hind legs at the same time to minimize stress to the cat. If the body is stiff, don't hold the cat to your chest. Allow the cat to struggle, but stay out of the way of the claws. When you place the cat down (don't let it jump), stroke its back if you can. Talk to the cat. It will stop a few paces away and look at you. The cat may come to you for a scratch if offered. Always talk softly and lovingly to your cat.

In Closing -

With all these admonitions and dos and don'ts, you may think that a neglected cat is too much trouble. Not that much, really. They take some time getting used to people, but once they trust you and know you have their best interests at heart, these cats will come to love you very much. The early stages with a neglected cat are the most critical. After that, you may find a loving, caring, demanding cat. Demanding because it may never want to be separated from you. Demanding because whatever it was denied before it will crave from you. Moreover, you will be loved, very deeply. It will care about you in its fashion. If your are down or blue, possibly sick, the cat will worry over you and try to find a way to comfort you. These cats are very responsive to their people. Hypersensitive is a good description. Empathic is another good description of their behavior. Some cats even approach a symbiotic relationship with their people.

Give love and patience, and love and patience will be returned. Give concern and care and those are returned. A neglected cat is one of the best pets for a single, older person. The cat will be tuned to that person in short order. It will give love and affection to ease the loneliness and loss these people sometimes experience. When the person is ill, the cat will understand and be there to comfort, while allowing the person to care for him or herself.

Morgen Marshall, a cat whisperer, invites you into her world of cats. She created a website dedicated to making the relationship between cats and people harmonious and healthy. For the Love of Cats is a place for people who love cats to find answers from someone they can trust.

What is the meaning of education?

Webster defines education as the process of educating or teaching. Educate is further defined as "to develop the knowledge, skill, or character of..." Thus, from these definitions, we might assume that the purpose of education is to develop the knowledge, skill, or character of students.

It is also defined in Oxford that education is the knowledge, abilities, and the development of character and mental powers that are resulted from intellectual, moral, and physical trainings. So, it can be said that someone who already got education will have additional knowledge, abilities and change in character and mental power.

While in Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, it is stated that:

Education encompasses teaching and learning specific skills, and also something less tangible but more profound: the imparting of knowledge, positive judgment and well-developed wisdom. Education has as one of its fundamental aspects the imparting of culture from generation to generation (see socialization). Education means 'to draw out', facilitating realization of self-potential and latent talents of an individual. It is an application of pedagogy, a body of theoretical and applied research relating to teaching and learning and draws on many disciplines such as psychology, philosophy, computer science, linguistics, neuro-science, sociology and anthropology.

From the quotation above, it is assumed that education does not merely transfer knowledge or skill, but more specifically it trains people to have positive judgment and well-developed wisdom, better characters and mental powers. Through education, someone will be able to search through their natural talent and self-potential, empower them and finally will result in gaining their self-esteem and better life.

The history of education according to Dieter Lenzen, president of the Freie Universität Berlin 1994 "began either millions of years ago or at the end of 1770". Education as a science cannot be separated from the educational traditions that existed before. Education was the natural response of early civilizations to the struggle of surviving and thriving as a culture. Adults trained the young of their society in the knowledge and skills they would need to master and eventually pass on.

The education of an individual human begins since he was born and continues throughout his life. Even, some people believe that education begins even before birth, as evidenced by some parents' playing music or reading to the baby in the womb to hope it will influence the child's development. For some, the struggles and triumphs of daily life provide far more instruction than does formal. Family members may have a profound educational effect - often more profound than they realize - though family teaching may function very informally.

Education: the purpose, function and in practice

Theorists have made a distinction between the purpose of education and the functions of education. A purpose is the fundamental goal of the process-an end to be achieved, while Functions are other outcomes that may occur as a natural result of the process- byproducts or consequences of schooling. To elaborate these terms, it can be seen in reality that some teachers believe that the transfer of knowledge from teacher to students is the main purpose of education, while the transfer of knowledge from school to the real world or the application of what has been transferred is something that happens naturally as a consequence of possessing that knowledge; it is called a function of education.

Here are some quotations taking from The Meaning of Education:

"The only purpose of education is to teach a student how to live his life-by developing his mind and equipping him to deal with reality. The training he needs is theoretical, i.e., conceptual. He has to be taught to think, to understand, to integrate, to prove. He has to be taught the essentials of the knowledge discovered in the past-and he has to be equipped to acquire further knowledge by his own effort" ~Ayn Rand

"The aim of education should be to teach us rather how to think, than what to think-rather to improve our minds, so as to enable us to think for ourselves, than to load the memory with the thoughts of other men." ~Bill Beattie

From the above information it can be said that the purpose of education is to prepare the students to be able to face their life by facilitating them to develop their mind and equip them with "hard skill" and "soft skill" to deal with reality. As the result of this education, they themselves will be able to think, to understand, to integrate and to prove their ability.

Talking about the purpose of education, there are some overviews about it. There are different outlooks between autocratic and democratic regarding education. It is quite clear that each type of world outlook demands its consistent type of education. The autocratic wants the education in the purpose of making docile followers. So, that is why they prefer a type of education whose purpose is to build docility and obedience. In the other hand, Democracy is different from them. Democracy wishes all people to be able and willing to judge wisely for themselves. The democratic will seek a type of education whose purpose is to build responsible, thinking, public-spirited citizenship in all people.

This is also different for the authoritarian society. For them, it is just enough for the leaders to know what they want without thinking about what their people want. It is quite in contrary to what a democratic society wants. For the democracy society, the leaders and the most important - the large majority of the people must see clearly the aims/purpose of the type of education they have. In other words, in a democracy it is essential that the leaders and people have clear philosophy of life and a clear philosophy of education.

Do you have children and are wondering about childrens furniture? The problem that many parents and children face is the vast choice that is available. When you look for furniture you are faced with huge ranges and all sorts of items. When you are looking there are some things to keep in mind.

Age and childrens furniture

Childrens furniture and the age of your child are invariably linked. Some furniture will be best suited for younger children while others are made for older children. Bunk beds are often a staple for a child's room but is it something you want to have in a teenagers room? Desks are an item that is better for older children who will use the surface more. Getting your toddler a desk will be a bit premature and take away space better used. Matching furniture with age will help with safety and comfort.

Kids furniture should also be fun

A person's bedroom is their own domain. This is true for children and adults. With this being the case it would be best to have kids furniture that is fun. One item that children often find fun is bunk beds. This item is like an indoor jungle gym and can be used to play on. The colour of the furniture should also be taken into account. While as an adult you may like certain colours in the bedroom you have to look at things from a child's point of view. Bright colours with different shapes can be fun for kids. Of course you also need to make sure that the furniture is functional as well as fun.

How to pick the best children furniture

When you are looking at children furniture you may want to include your children in the process. There are a few reasons why this is a good idea. One of them is that your child will feel comfortable with their new furniture. Another is that it is something you can do together. Something that needs to be looked at when choosing the best furniture is safety. You need to make sure that your child will be safe if left on their own in their room. Check how solid the furniture is and how well it has been made. Furniture with sharp corners needs to be considered carefully. If your child is young then it is best to not get furniture with sharp corners. You also need to look and see if there are any heavy objects that come with the furniture. You do not want these objects to be loose as this can seriously hurt your child.

There are a lot of options available when looking at childrens furniture. You have to consider a number of factors before you choose the furniture. Age is one of these things as is the amount of fun your child can have with the furniture. Taking your children with is a good idea as they can help you choose.

This article was submitted by Simona Rusnakova, SEO consultant of 3R, on behalf of HomeLineFurniture who sell childrens furniture, and other types of furniture online in Dublin, Ireland.

How To Obtain Car Insurance For An Antique Car

Many people choose to restore and show antique cars as a hobby. But even these cars need some type of insurance to protect against accidental damage. This is why many people search for car insurance for an antique car. There are many companies available that provide car insurance for an antique car, with many companies specializing in antique car insurance. By having a wide variety of car insurance companies to choose from, the consumer has the ability to choose the right type of insurance for their needs.

Car Insurance Companies

Many commercial car insurance companies can also provide car insurance for an antique car. Also called collector car insurance, these policies are tailored to the car you are attempting to insure. A car insurance representative will take all of your information and discuss different policy options with you to ensure that you are obtaining the coverage that you need. They will also help you decide which types of coverage are within your target budget and which deductible and limit levels you will need.

Purchasing car insurance for an antique car through a commercial car insurance company will give the policy holder peace of mind, knowing that the company that they have chosen to do business with is an established company with a good reputation. The policy hold may also have their everyday use cars insured with the same company. The security of having an established company provide car insurance for an antique car is well worth the premium that they will charge you to provide insurance for your antique car.

Independent Insurance Companies

There are also many independent insurance companies available to purchase car insurance for an antique car. These companies tend to specialize in antique car insurance and will not insure any other types of cars. Some of these independent insurance companies will only insure a particular type of antique car, so if the car you are attempting to insure is a rare one, if may be difficult to find an insurance provider that will insure it. When choosing an independent insurance company to provide car insurance for an antique car, be sure that the company is a reputable one. You do not want to find that after months of paying the insurance premiums that the company will not or is unable to pay your insurance claim.

Finding car insurance for an antique car can be a lengthy and frustrating process, but the benefits of having insurance for the car far outweighs the initial hassle of finding the insurance. Many antique cars are worth many thousands of dollars and that is a big loss if the car is ever stolen or totaled. Having car insurance for an antique car may be the most valuable insurance that you ever purchase.

Peter Bassett runs his own mail order business as well as running several shopping based websites. Check out these excellent Car Bikes And Autos resources or the more specific Car Bikes And Autos.

Fashion designers help create the billions of clothing articles, shoes, and accessories purchased every year by consumers. Fashion designers working for apparel wholesalers or manufacturers create designs for the mass market. Fashion designers are the people who create the elegant, whimsical, fun, silly, and often expensive clothes we see parading down runways twice a year. Fashion designers design and create clothing and accessories for men, women and children. Some high-fashion designers are self-employed and design for individual clients. Other high-fashion designers cater to specialty stores or high-fashion department stores.

Fashion

Fashion design is the applied art dedicated to the design of clothing and lifestyle accessories created within the cultural and social influences of a specific time. Fashion designers have brought about a storm in this glamour world with their commendably fabulous variety. Fashion industry has always welcomed new talent giving rise to the budding stars of tomorrow. While all articles of clothing from any time period are studied by academics as costume design, only clothing created after 1858 could be considered as fashion design.

Before the former draper set up his maison couture (fashion house) in Paris, clothing design and creation was handled by largely anonymous seamstresses, and high fashion descended from that worn at royal courts. Throughout the early 20th century, practically all high fashion originated in Paris, and to a lesser extent London. At this time in fashion history the division between haute couture and ready-to-wear was not sharply defined.

Designers

Designers know they have this power, and will continue to use it to influence global fashions throughout the eras. These designers create original garments, as well as those that follow established fashion trends. Most fashion designers, however, work for apparel manufacturers, creating designs of men's, women's, and children's fashions for the mass market. Designer brands which have a 'name' as their brand such as Calvin Klein or Ralph Lauren are likely to be designed by a team of individual designers under the direction of a designer director. Thus, the tradition of designers sketching out garment designs instead of presenting completed garments on models to customers began as an economy.

Popular Western styles were adopted all over the world, and many designers from outside of the West had a profound impact on fashion. Currently, modern fashion has seen a reference to technology such as designers Hussein Chalayan and Miuccia Prada who have introduced industrial textiles and modern technology into their fall collections. Mass market designers generally adapt the trends set by the famous names in fashion. Increasingly, many modern high-end designers are now beginning to turn to mass market retailers to produce lower-priced merchandise, and to broaden their customer base. Perhaps most importantly, designers use their imaginations to come up with new ideas.

There are a number of well known fashion design schools worldwide. Most fashion design courses last for three years. As well as teaching students about the artistic and technical side of the subject, some courses include a year working in the fashion industry, to give students a taste of commercial fashion design. Others offer the chance to visit fashion houses abroad.

Trishia Lopez is a successful Webmaster and publisher of www.TheFashionGurus.com. She provides more information about Fashion and fashion issues that you can research in your pajamas on her website.

Is it really necessary to be careful when you're dining out? Can't you just splurge when you eat out and watch your intake when you're at home? Not if you want to lose weight! According to the National Restaurant Association, American restaurants bring in over 500 billion dollars in sales annually! Imagine what that figure must be worldwide! With grocery prices soaring, the majority of mothers working outside of the home, and so many people working long hours and living hectic lives, is it any wonder that we don't cook anymore?

The problem, of course, is that with the growing obesity problem, and all the health-related issues that come with it, people are going to have to learn how to make wise choices when eating out in restaurants.

There's absolutely no reason to give up restaurants! Let's face it; their sales will probably continue to soar! Just follow these quick and easy dining out tips to help you make wise choices and you will be successful on your weight loss journey.

• Follow the new 5-4-3-2-1 Diet when dining out. No foods are off-limits!
• Plan the meal out in your mind before going to the restaurant. You might not be familiar with their menu, but you'll be able to guess the basic choices. Go through step by step, from wine and appetizer to dessert, visualizing how you want the evening to go. When you sit down and look at the menu, remember your plan.
• Split a meal with your dining companion. Save money and have room for dessert!
• If no one wants to share a meal with you, put half to two-thirds in a "to-go box" for the next day.
• Order an appetizer as your meal. Add a small salad with the dressing on the side.
• Be specific when ordering. Ask questions and make requests.
  The restaurant is there to serve you and most are happy to do so. They want repeat customers!

  Order all dressings and sauces on the side so that you can dip your fork and control your portion. Order your food grilled, broiled, or roasted--never fried!

• Limit yourself to one glass of wine.
• Share one dessert with the whole table, or skip dessert entirely!
• A good dining out tip is to ask the waiter to keep the breadbasket or chip basket. If your dining companions want these things, then decide ahead of time exactly how much you will have and stick to the plan!
• Eat SLOWLY and savor your food. Put down your fork between bites. Chew well. Remember that it takes approximately 20 minutes for you stomach to register that you've eaten enough. Assess how you feel and stop eating when you're no longer hungry.
• Eat with intention! Be a good listener and focus on your companions instead of your food.
• If eating in a fast food restaurant, never super-size. Ask the people at the counter what the healthiest choices are. Most have been trained to provide this information.
• At a buffet, use the salad-sized plates for your meal. Stay away from the salad bar with the exception of the fresh lettuce that you fix yourself. No creamy dressings! Don't load your salad up with croutons, sunflower seeds, and cheese. Add only vegetables or beans. The other "salads" are loaded with fat and calories. Stay away from them. Choose meat from the carving station and add some vegetables. Allow yourself one small dessert.
• Never show up at a restaurant starving. If your hunger is over the top, eat a small salad before leaving home.
• Know that foods described as "smoked", "barbecued", or "teriyaki" are going to have high sodium and anything "breaded", "sautéed", "au gratin", "scalloped", or "creamed" is going to be high in fat.

Use these simple dining out tips to help you enjoy your restaurant experience. There's no reason why you can't enjoy a guilt-free meal and continue to lose weight!

Gail M. Davis teaches teens and adults alike how to eat healthy and successfully lose weight. You'll find practical weight loss tips along with information about the new 5-4-3-2-1 diet plan, and much more throughout her site.

Politics have been a part of Chicago for some time. By politics we mean the heated politics of Chicago. From the University of Chicago, which has seen some great political leaders, to the leaders of Chicago in the past who were known to have mob connections, Chicago has been a political firecracker for some time.

They say that the two things you should never discuss are politics and religion, but that does not stop a lot of the talk of the heated politics of Chicago. Many people want to know Chicago politics inside and out, and want to know what the big news for the city's political scene is. This love for the Chicago political scene is something many in the city share. However, finding people to talk to about politics can be extremely difficult to do.

Just as the history of Chicago has been very diverse, so have its political views. The politics of Chicago have not only been heated, but have led to impacts in the nation that is here today. They have also laid the groundwork to a number of events that would be factors in the world as a whole as a well. Some of the newer cities of the United States have to give thanks to some of the greater minds and political views of the Windy City.

In recent years, some of the greats in the corporate world and political world have sought places in the Southwestern United States. Some have seen this as a means of fleeing the fires that they fueled in Chicago, other have merely seen this as them wanting to have a transition to the next stage of their lives. The heated politics of Chicago can literally eat someone alive and spit out the remains without a second thought. That is part of what makes Chicago one of the political centers and also one of the hot spots for change in the Midwest.

Many have seen the legendary Al Capone as a nightmare in the streets of Chicago, and have seen how he would consume the legal system. One can't say Capone's name though without mentioning how he was the catalyst in the creation of the FBI. This level of corruption that Capone brought forth also instigated a higher level of how politics were viewed in Chicago and how the dirty politicians were dealt with. In the bluntest of terms, just as the Chicago sports fans won't tolerate verbal jabs; the political arena of Chicago is no different.

Some have seen that Chicago is one of the harder roads for politicians, yet it is also a road that had garnered a higher level of respect of the politicians that have surfaced from the torrents of the political world there. This has been a city that has shown what a cut throat environment politics can be and also where a politician can be revered by those that support them.

The author runs a website about Chicago politics. This has been truer with the rich political history that Chicago offers and the direct impact it has had on both the state and Federal government.