foxyladylingerie

by tom.hensel

Hiring the Right Commercial and Industrial Roofing Contractor For Your Needs

Purchasing a new roofing system for your existing metal roofs is no small investment. It is an important investment that should take thought and consideration before choosing the right industrial and commercial roofing contractor for your needs. Before you spend your money, spend your time learning how to evaluate the roof contractors you may be working with. Not all roofing companies are alike and there is no foolproof method for selecting a professional roofing service. The National Roofing Contractors Association (NRCA) gives consumer a few tips to consider before settling on one roof company.

The first thing to do when looking at a roofing contractor is verify a permanent place of business. Things to look for include a telephone number, a tax I.D. number, and a business license. Any professional roof service should have these readily available. Once you have verified they are legit, ask for proof of insurance. It would be wise to check both their liability coverage and their workers’ compensation certificates. When looking at their insurance coverage, be sure to check their coverage dates. You want to make sure their coverage runs through the duration of your roof restoration project they would be doing for you. If you fail to check their dates and something happens while they were not insured, building owners may be held responsible for accidents that occur on the property or dragged into litigations.

From there you want to make sure the roofing consultants of your interest are properly licensed or bonded. Your state’s Department of Professional Regulation or Licensing Board will have this information. It may also be beneficial to you to call your local Better Business Bureau or Department of Professional Regulation and ask about any complaints filed against the contractor.

A good commercial roofing company is one that can provide its potential customers with a readily available list of client references and a list of completed roof coating projects. Calling some of the clients on their reference lists can give you a good idea of the quality of work performed as well as the professionalism of the company. Be sure to look for a company with a proven track record that is financially stable as well. They should be able to provide you with their current financial information.

Once you have narrowed your search down and are asking for quotes from various roofing services, be sure to insist on a written proposal that you can examine for complete descriptions of the work, the roof coatings and specifications, including approximate starting and completion dates and payment procedures. You may also be interested in knowing about the companies roofing specialists who will be performing the work. It is important to know their safety record and the safety training they receive. Be sure to choose a company that is committed to the safety and education of its workers. The company should also be able to explain their roof systems, quality control procedures, the name of the person who will be in charge, and how many works and the amount of time it will take to complete the work.

As a final note, be sure to carefully inspect the roof warranty that is offered. Watch for any provisions that would void it and ask any questions you may have regarding their warranty and future commercial roof leaks or commercial roofing repairs. A positive to look for in a roofing company is one that offers its customers some form of a yearly roofing maintenance agreement on top of their warranty. With a roof maintenance agreement, it should address any roof leak concerns and the roof repairs that would be covered before you have a leaking roof.

Keep in mind the saying, “if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is,” when choosing the lowest bid. Many commercial roof contractors can come off as attractive professionals with their below-cost bids, but many of them are often uninsured and perform substandard work. Price is only one of the criteria for selecting a roofing contractor. Professionalism and quality workmanship should also weigh heavily on your decision in hiring the right commercial or industrial roofing specialist.

Find More Industrial Roofing Articles

Essential Techniques For Card Making

If you are a beginner in card making it is best to study the basic techniques applied in making card. All techniques available will give you a unique and elegant finish to your invitation or greeting cards. Browse for online techniques and you will see the techniques below that are used regularly in the card projects by seasoned and beginner card makers. They’re all techniques, easy to master and wonderful for creating dozens of cards.

Water paints – Water paints creates a lovely effect for backgrounds on cards. It has this amazing look effect of drawings reflected by the water paints.

Calligraphy – Using different types of fonts for alphabets and numbers adds a very artistic flair to card making.

Rubber Stamping – Rubber stamps can be purchased, including different colored inks to create patterns, shapes and pictures onto your cards.

Embossing – Is used with metal templates to create a raised effect on the piece of metal. This can be done using stamps, patterns and shapes that are “embossed” into the metal to create these effects.

Quilling – Quilling involves rolling several layers of thin paper to create a great effects on your cards. The paper is wound around a quill to create a basic coil shape. The paper is glued at the tip and the coil shaped, these shaped coils are arranged to form flowers, leaves, and various ornamental patterns.

Punching – Using different sizes and designs of hole punch, you can create a few great textured holes that can be embellishments on your card making craft.

Iris Folding – Very similar to quilling as it involves layering different colored strips of paper to create spiral effects in your crafts.

Decoupage – includes using colored and printed paper that is glued to create effects. You could also use gold leafing techniques that come under the heading of decoupage. Decoupage is actually very simple. If you know how to cut and paste, you already have the basic techniques involved in decoupage. Basically, you cut out pictures; you glue the pictures onto an object like a card; and then cover the object and pictures with a few coats of glue/decoupage medium to protect it.

The techniques above are very simple to learn yet very effective when used in card making. You can purchase a great guidebook that will enable you to check over how each technique is executed. It will also give you easy instructions and inspiration for your imagination.

by . Ward

Stay in a Cottage in Wales and Discover Some of Its Hidden Gems

Wales’ best-kept secret, the Lleyn Peninsula (Penrhyn Ll?n in Welsh:) is the long finger of land, that thrusts out towards Ireland, forming the northern arm of Cardigan Bay, as Pembrokeshire does the southern. At its very point lies Bardsey Island (Ynys Enlli), burial place of 20,000 saints, which has drawn pilgrims to its now ruined monastery, along the pilgrims’ road, ever since the 6th century.

Approximately 35 miles long by 10 miles at its widest, it is a unique and beautiful part of north Wales, renowned for its natural charm and mild climate. So spectacular is its coastline that acres of it have been protected by the National Trust and much of it has been designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Its large number of protected sites – including a National Nature Reserve at Cors Geirch, a National Heritage Coastline and a European Marine Special Area of Conservation, as well as twenty Sites of Special Scientific Interest – confirms the Peninsula as one of the most scientifically important areas in the whole of the UK. A haven for wild flowers, rare butterflies, and birds, its indigenous flora and fauna attracts naturalists from far and wide.

It is this unique blend of unspoilt scenery; rocky coves; sandy beaches; mountains; open countryside, and wooded valleys, which makes Lleyn such a popular destination for both tourists and holiday home owners. There is also the added touch of “foreignness” with its unusual place-names and the Welsh language spoken around you, which makes the holiday that little different!

Often referred to as Snowdon’s Coastline, the Lleyn Peninsula offers many opportunities for the more active; walking, cycling, sailing, yachting, surfing, fishing, shooting, and golfing. For the lazy ones among you, there are miles of unspoilt, sandy coastline and safe bathing.

If you want to experience the delights of this area of Wales, why not start by visiting the Nefyn Holidays website www.nefynholidays.co.uk and finding yourself a cosy country cottage from which to discover hidden Wales.

Nefyn Holidays (Welsh Gwyliau Nefyn a’r Cylch) was established in 1970, and is a small independent cottage holiday letting agency. Based in an office on a smallholding in the hamlet of Ceidio, it is personally run and supervised by its two partners, Jean Bunford and Gwerfyl Thomas. Their affordable prices, coupled with their good old-fashioned and open approach to business, has, over the years, stood them in good stead, and they now have a repeat clientelle of over 60% who book with them each year.

A small company by today’s standards (the UK holiday market is, increasingly, dominated by huge American companies who have, or are buying up the smaller UK independents), the partners at Nefyn Holidays have the advantage of knowing all their cottages (and their owners) and are therefore well placed to help their customers chose the cottage that is just right for them.

Their wide-ranging property portfolio includes coastal and country cottages, modern bungalows, farmhouses, character cottages and a handful of caravans. They can all be found on their web site at www.nefynholidays.co.uk

by TechShowNetwork

The Benefits of Email Compliance in a Business

Email has become the standard method of correspondence used by businesses sending important and sometimes confidential messages. Such sensitive information needs to be archived for possible future use in order to comply with eDiscovery requests, specific regulations as well as the company’s email compliance policies.

Email correspondence is used for both internal and external affairs therefore it is important that a copy of all emails is archived for possible future needs relating to legal, compliance and human resource issues. A company must also be in a position to respond to eDiscovery requests at short notice.

Why a company needs email archiving

Existing regulations such as Sarbanes-Oxley, HIPAA and the FRCP treat emails as being equal to paper-based documents in terms of valid and legal documentation presented in a court of law and are therefore admissible during an eDiscovery request.

eDiscovery is the process of locating, securing and using documentation from a company’s archives in a legal setting, so a company must have the ability to procure the necessary documents with the confirmation that these have not been tampered with. Failure to abide by procedures could result in court fines and other financial burdens, as well as a failing reputation.

How email archiving should be implemented

For security, maintenance and resource reasons, email archives should not be archived on the mail server but should have their own localized server that is specific to the task.

Having your emails archived on a separate database ensures more protection for the archives should the server crash, as well as lightening the load on the server. When archiving is another process that the email server is meant to handle, its resources are being stretched to capacity risking poor performance in both tasks. A dedicated email server and a dedicated archiving server render the upkeep of both machines a simpler and cleaner process.

Moreover, separate backups of both servers ensure a safer environment, as by having the archived emails on a separate server, should the email server crash all is not lost since the archived emails would be accessible and easily recoverable meaning that work can be resumed from a certain point.

Email archiving compliance

In industries and countries where regulations require organizations to monitor user activity and keep audit trails, a system that records, logs and retains a database of user activity, or other secure methods such as encryption will ensure that emails have not been tampered with as this would render them inadmissible in a court of law. An auditing facility is also important for compliance purposes.

Log files and counts must prove that all emails (including their attachments) are being captured and can be searched for, found and viewed in their original format. Advising users that their emails are being recorded and archived will act as a deterrent to any abuse of the system.

Email archiving is becoming a standard practice in today’s businesses as the implementation of a successful email compliance policy could save a company a lot of time, money and resources, and provide guarantees that it is in a position to respond to eDiscovery processes and fulfil the requirements of compliance regulation which the company must adhere to.

by nimboo

Conducting an Employee Satisfaction Survey or Employee Engagement Survey: 21 Reasons to Do It Now

Why Employee Engagement and Employee Satisfaction are Really Important to Your Bottom Line: 

Employee compensation is likely the number one or number two cost category at your organization. In a highly competitive world with continuous pressure on profit margins and the need to increase employee productivity and contain costs, anything your organization can do to get more done with the employees you have produces an immediate payback. If you can get more done with fewer employees, that is even better, especially if you can drive up sales and increase customer service and quality while containing employee costs. 

Fortunately, your employees have the answers. They know what it’s like to work at your company, what your customers are telling them about your company, and about your competition. You just need to ask your employees and they will tell you. They will also tell you how dissatisfied or satisfied they are working at your company, and how engaged they are and what can be done to increase their level of engagement. 

Your employees also know what needs to be done to increase your company’s customer service levels, customer satisfaction, customer loyalty, productivity, quality and profit, and what can be done to reduce potentially costly risks. 

While most companies are aware of the need to take action and make improvements to become more competitive, they often miss important hidden actions that can really make a difference for customers, employees and the bottom line. That’s where employee surveys come in, uncovering the hidden information, suggestions and insight you need from across your organization. 

Highly satisfied employees are more engaged in their jobs, their productivity is higher and they do more to generate profit for your company. Company financials and other “hard data” measurements are missing important information and insight that can only be gathered by directly asking your employees. Employee engagement surveys and employee satisfaction surveys are the best, most cost-effective way to gather comprehensive information accurately from a large portion of your employees about how satisfied and how engaged they are, and what needs to be done to increase employee satisfaction and engagement. 

Employee Engagement Definition 

Your employees are engaged when they are fully committed, involved and enthusiastic about their jobs, your organization and your customers. 

·  Your engaged employees are able, willing and actually do contribute more to your organization’s success. 

·  Engaged employees regularly put effort into their work above and beyond what is expected of them. They go the extra mile. They eagerly and willingly work longer hours and focus their energy, inspiration, skills, intelligence and experience on achieving success for themselves and your company. 

·  Your engaged employees thrive when they are working in a supportive company culture. Their energy. inspiration and enthusiasm enhance your company’s culture. 

Are your employees really engaged? How do you know?: 

How many of your company’s employees are highly engaged, how many are somewhat engaged and how many are disengaged? Employee engagement surveys and employee satisfaction surveys measure employee satisfaction and engagement levels and provide actionable information for driving employee engagement to significantly higher levels. Assessing employee engagement levels and then taking action to shift somewhat engaged and disengaged employees up the curve will significantly increase employee and company performance. 

Which is the right survey approach for your organization, employee engagement surveys or employee satisfaction surveys?: 

It’s possible for employees to be satisfied but not engaged in their job, and it’s also possible for employees to be engaged while not being satisfied. Therefore the best approach is conducting surveys that include both employee satisfaction and employee engagement issues. 

21 Reasons to Conduct an Employee Satisfaction Survey / Employee Engagement Survey (aka Employee Opinion Survey): 

When action is taken based on the survey findings, employee satisfaction surveys and employee engagement surveys generate significant bottom-line benefits and a very strong payback. Here are 21 reasons to conduct employee surveys now: 

1. Gathering employee feedback that either validates what company leaders think they know about their organization, or identifying hidden problems and opportunities, and possible solutions 

2. Increasing employee engagement in their jobs and with customers 

3. Identifying quality and customer service shortfalls and what can be done to fix these problems 

4. Gathering information and insight for creating a roadmap for making breakthrough improvements 

5. Assessing employees’ awareness and understanding of your organization’s vision, mission and values 

6. Learning how employees feel about your senior leaders, their leadership effectiveness and the direction in which they are taking your company 

7. Learning how employees perceive their manager/supervisor and what it is like to work for them (approachability, fairness, leadership effectiveness, etc.) 

8. Identifying specific process and technology problems and deficiencies and their impact on customers and employees, including suggested solutions from employees 

9. Focusing managers’ attention and energy on areas with the highest priority and the largest payback 

10. Identifying communications problems within and across organizational units, a significant cause of dissatisfaction and poor performance 

11. Sending a message to your employees that you care about them and their opinions, and that you are willing to take action based on what they are telling you 

12. Strengthening the culture of teamwork, collaboration and change 

13. Enhancing your organization’s “employer of choice” reputation, enabling hiring of better employees 

14. Identifying reasons for and reducing costly employee turnover 

15. Avoiding costly discrimination and abuse law suits 

16. Learning about problems with execution and compliance with your company’s performance management system 

17. Making better, more informed decisions based on comprehensive feedback from employees 

18. Facilitating innovation and smart risk-taking 

19. Identifying ways to increase the company’s focus on external and internal customers 

20. Reducing the “People Performance Gap”, the costly gap in performance between the most and least effective employees performing each job in your company 

21. Establishing important baseline employee survey information that can be used to track progress and changes over time from annual employee surveys

Related Employee Engagement Survey Articles

by Brookhaven National Laboratory

How Can Addiction Treatment Work

Addiction Treatment

Everybody comes into contact with addiction,sometime or other. It might be through personal use or it might becasue of a close friend or loved one
There are many, many addictions, more than most people realize..

Addicitions can be classified into 2 main areas:

We are all aware of substance addictions, this includes:
Alcohol
Drugs – Recreational and Prescription
Caffeine
Nicotine
Food
Refined Sugar
Carbohydrates

However there are many more proccess addictions These include some of the following:

Sex
Love
Relationships
Anger
Activity Addictions. These can include, but are not limited to:

The Internet
Exercise
Work
Gambling
Shopping
Spending Money
Obsession
Self Loathing
Television
Computer and Video Gaming
Pornography
Masturbation
Dangerous pursuits
Meditation

For whatever reason the mind is feeling pain. An addiction is a way of avoiding that pain. Not just not dealing with the pain, but avoiding acknowledging it altogether.

Do you for instance exercise because you need to get fit or lose weight, or has exercise become an addiction. Do you fret and worry, get irritable or anxious, when for some reason you cannot get to the gym? This is addictive behavior..

Everyone has their own ego problems. That might not seem possible, when you see images ,interviews films of extremely popular figures in sports, tv and movies.However, even celebrities and business leaders, the rich and famous hide their pain and do not deal with or take responsibility for their own pain.

These emotional issues or beliefs have been nurtured all through childhood and into adulthood. To a large extent they are false beliefs, but we choose to believe them, as though they are an emotional crutch.

There are considered to be four main or common false beliefs that are the cornerstone of nearly all addictions.

# I am not capable of dealing with my emotional pain
#I must be unworthy of another person’s love
# Only Other people are my means to love
#I need to control the thoughts and feelings of others towards me

More Addiction Treatment Articles

by Dr.S.Ali Wasif

Same Day Couriers help to win the day!

Have you ever ordered something, say from the Internet, and then wondered how it manages to get to you so quickly?

Throughout the UK there is a network of courier companies, both small and large, driving vans, lorry’s, trucks, motorbikes and pushbikes, delivering items both small and large to our doorsteps and offices.

It is very easy to take these services for granted, but these couriers are the core of the beating heart of the country ensuring that consignments get from A to B on time and in one piece.

Same Day Couriers go that little extra mile.  Usually when we order something we expect it to arrive the following day, or even 2/3 days later.  Same Day Couriers specialise in getting items from A to B during the same working day.  Of course, in some circumstances this isn’t possible due to distance limitations, but around a business, thriving city such as London or New York the same day delivery of documents is a common occurrence.

Take a lawyer for example who might be working on a very important case with a tight deadline.  If he needs to receive evidence or documents to meet his deadline he needs a courier that he can rely on.  Someone who will be able to fulfill his promise of getting the package to him on time so he can meet his deadline.  Without a Same Day Courier the lawyer would not be able to carry out his responsibilities.

If you need to know when your package has arrived, many couriers offer a tracking system on which you can trace the location of your parcel.  Usually this is made available from the Couriers web site and allows you to see a log of when it arrived where and who signed for it.    That way if the recipient claims not to have received it you can double check for yourself before contacting the courier.

Same Day Couriers use different methods of transport to get the parcel to its destination.  In some cases vans or motorcycles might be used but in heavy traffic areas it might be more effective to use a push bike (as long as the destination isn’t too far away!)

by WarriorForge

Emergency First Aid Training

Road accident casualties are on a high these days. With the knowledge of some basic first aid techniques people can save thousands of life. People are well aware with this fact and hence thousands undergo emergency first aid training.

Emergency can arise anywhere anytime. It could be at your home, in the checkout line at a store, at the mall, theater, park, work, bowling alley, etc. Taking this training will help in saving precious lives whether in public or at home.

The next most obvious question is what this training deals about and where this training can be takes. The first aid training is used when people (patients) require immediate attention that includes illness, accidents, injuries, etc. The trainees are taught proper methods of assessing the patient’s condition, applying temporary bandage to the wounds, techniques to stop the blood loss, giving suitable medicines, stabilize the patient and when to call for help (ambulance). After the successful completion of your training, first aid certificate is given to the trainees.

The best place for first aid training is your local red cross. Red Cross has many safety courses available including first aid, human care and CPR. Along with Red Cross the local community centers also conduct emergency first aid training. Both these centers are worth considering, when you want to opt first aid training.

There is another great place where you can indulge in best first aid training it is your home. Surprised. Here the pointer is to the Internet. There are many websites that give the best possible online first aid training.  The first aid training centers have tremendous information and they design the first aid training certificate course considering minute details. Then you always have the comfort and privacy of your home or office and you can take the training at your will. Just there is one drawback associated with online first aid training that it does not offer hands on experience.

The first aid training should be taken seriously. Everyone should take the firs aid training as it gives you a valuable means to serve the society. 

If you are interested to know more about Emergency First Aid Training please search our site  (http://www.americansti.org/) for more in-depth information and resources.

More First Aid Training Articles

by WanderingtheWorld (www.LostManProject.com)

The History of the Cigar Lighter

The lighter was invented in 1816. The first lighter was called “Dobereiner’s Lamp” (named after its creator, Johann Wolfgang Dobereiner). But his lighter did not use butane or oil as fuel, it used hydrogen. Another difference was that these lighters used platinum as the catalyst (used to start the chemical change of fuel to fire) instead of flint, or a Piezoelectric spark.

Common smokers mostly used matches until the flint lighter became more popular. By 1908, the flint lighter was refined enough and small enough to fit inside a pocket. Special flint made specifically for lighters went into mass production at this time. Obviously, flint is a fraction of the cost of platinum. Using platinum as a catalyst faded out and flint took its place. This lit the kindling which would light the fire that fueled rise of the lighter.

The development of lighters accelerated during World War I.

In the 1920s, lighters were still somewhat of a luxury for smokers. It would be a heavy setback for the average blue collar worker who smoked. But when the 1930s came along, a man named George G. Blaisdell noticed an awkward Austrian lighter that had room for improvement and acted on it.

He improved the ergonomics of the lighter’s case, so it was not as awkward to hold. Then he designed a perforated hood for the wick, which kept the lighter’s flame windproof ! Additionally, he modified the fuel chamber to be more efficient, and added a hinged flip-top lid. And voila ! Zippo entered the world of lighters.

After the emergence of Zippo, other lighter companies started popping up. All the competition caused prices to fall dramatically. Lighters then became a hot novelty and were very collectible. Ronson made their first automatic lighter in the late 1920s but did not gain in popularity, until the rise of Zippo. Dunhill became more aggressive in the production of their lighters. St. Dupont added lighters to their line of products. Also, Colibri began making their first automatic lighters.

The fuel used in most of the lighters in the 1930s was naphtha, an oily liquid that comes from petroleum. In the 1930s-40s, a ground-breaking innovation to the lighter emerged. It is hard to say exactly who conceived of the idea, but Ronson starting producing mass-producing lighters that used butane as a fuel, instead of naphtha.

A technology also started to rapidly develop after the first World War–Piezoelectricity. Like the lighter, Piezoelectricity was invented in the early 1800s, but the full potential of it was only first realized in 1917, by French scientists. Ronson used the same Piezoelectric effect used in this machine, to create an igniter for lighters that transforms energy into an electric spark.

Since the late 1950s, when the Piezoelectric spark was introduced, lighters have been used by almost all smokers. Now, there are more lighter manufacturers than ever. There are also many different flame types. Aside from a natural flame, there are now lighters that produce torch and jet flames and even multi-flames.

Today smokers might choose a different flame type as a matter of preference or because of what they are smoking (pipes or cigars). Cigar smokers usually use torch lighters and pipe smokers would probably prefer a natural flame lighter.

by Laughing Squid

How To Canter A Horse

One of the natural gaits possessed by horses is the canter. The canter is normally faster than a trot but slower than the gallop. This gait is used by all horse riders. The canter gait’s speed could reach more or less 22 kph or 14 mph. The speed heavily depends on the horse. Longer strides would cover more ground and therefore, faster canters are executed.

A lope, on the other hand, is a slower but somewhat similar to a canter. The lope gait has a speed of around 16 kph or 10 mph. It is a collected movement and it is primarily used in western form of riding. Both the canter and lope are 3-beated gaits that are both functional and aesthetically beautiful to watch.

The canter and the lope usually come after teaching the horse how to trot. The animal will gradually learn how to execute these natural movements with the weight of the rider. Horses will eventually be comfortable with the trot gait and that will be the perfect time to canter or lope the horse. As you progress, you will learn how to rate the horse for collection, extension and ultimately feel confident enough for a full gallop.

It is best to start working the horse on the longeline and with the reins out of way. This will help the animal to recognize commands before the horse must deal with the additional weight of a rider.

Here are some tips and techniques on how to canter a horse:

1. Let the horse trot calmly to help warm him up. Do not surprise the horse with the new instructions, make sure he knows the command on the ground before you attempt to try the shift in gate from his back.

2. From the trot, bring your outside leg back but your inside leg should stay on the girth.

3. Keep the horse normally bending to the inside and when you apply the leg cues, the horse will start to lift his shoulders and continue to drive with the hindquarters.

4. When you start to canter, be loose in the hips, move with the animal. Just follow the horse’s movement. Be fluid not stiff. Maintain a slight pressure on the inside leg if necessary so that the animal’s forward motion is sustained.

5. It is very important have gentle contact with the horse’s reins. Make sure he has comfort in the mouth, but enough pressure so he knows you are in control. NEVER jerk on an animals mouth. Many riders prefer to ride without putting any pressure on the reins.

6. Always try to check if your horse is on the correct lead. You can actually feel this but if you are still inexperienced with this, you will just have to observe with your peripheral vision. Do not tip your head to look; it may cause you to get out of correct position.

7. Come back to the trot by softening all the pressure. Just light apply a bump with the rein aid and if you need to, you can use your voice as a command.

8. You can mix things up. You can cue for the canter or lope again if you want. Eventually the horse will effortlessly get the cues and aids. Keep it fresh to prevent boredom with your mount.

9. Practice cantering in both directions. Sometimes, a particular side is more difficult for your horse but with constant practice, the animal will understand and be able to shift in no time.

10. Remember, safety first. Use a helmet, know your mount and be educated on proper cues and etiquette.