Friday, July 25, 2014

How many types of tow trucks are there?

A flatbed tow truck consists of a cab (the portion of the truck one drives) with a flatbed on the back of it, which can be inclined to ground level using hydraulics. The vehicle to be towed can then drive up onto the flatbed itself, or winched up.

An integrated truck, or self loader, consists of a boom and wheel-lift in the same unit. A boom is a piece of equipment, actually an adjustable boom winch, which enables the truck to winch up vehicles from a ditch, or anywhere where it is impracticable to back the truck all the way up to be adjacent to the vehicle.

A hook and chain, consists of chains which are looped around the frame of the vehicle or its axle. It is then lifted up using a boom winch. Typically these are used only to tow vehicles that have been involved in accidents, as the chains can cause damage to the car. In additional, these are bad for all-wheel drive vehicles, because towing it in such a way will harm the drive train.

The wheel lift is a more sophisticated version of the hook and chain. The driver of the truck need only fit a large metal yoke beneath the front tires (if it is a front wheel drive) or back tires (if it is a rear wheel drive) of a car, and the pneumatic (air) or hydraulic (liquid) hoist lifts the opposite end of the car or truck into the air.

Resource:
This article is sponsored by Fife Towing, a Seattle towing company.

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What is shisha?

Shisha is a mixture of tobacco, molasses, and a vegetable glycerol, which is placed into a hookah pipe and heated until it vaporizes (a hookah is also called a water pipe).

Muassel is the Arabic word for it (meaning honeyed), while shisha comes from the Persian for "glass."

Today, because of health concerns, the tobacco is often left out of the mixture, and fruit flavors or herbs are left in.

Shisha has become popular in the United States, as had the hookah pens that one uses to smoke it, because people are more aware than ever of the results of tobacco smoking. Hookah pens have been popular since the 2000s, usually with college-age students.

The hookah pipe is used throughout the Middle East, and there are hookah lounges in Europe and the United States as well, but the hookah pen is portable and thus easier to use on the go.

Resource:
This article is sponsored by Hookah Shisha a purveyor of hookah pens.

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Thursday, July 24, 2014

The National Electric Code

Every home in the United States must meet "code" - every area of construction has its own code that should be met.

So, what is the National Electric Code?

The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) founded in 1896, is a trade association headquartered in the United States that develops standards and codes to be used by local governments (city and state).

The National Electrical Code (NEC), or NFPA 70, is the standard for the safe installation of electrical wiring and equipment. It's not a legally binding document in itself, but most municipalities adopt it - thus making it legally binding. It is also used in many countries throughout the world.

The NEC puts together the requirements for safe electrical installations into a single, standardized source.

(As a matter of fact, the NFPA puts out over a hundred codes. The most common are:

NFPA 1 - the fire code
NFPA 54 - the Fuel gas code
NFPA 70 - the electric code (which is actually used around the world)
NFPA 85 - boiler and combustion systems hazards code
NFPA 101 - life safety code (minimum requirements for buildings to protect the occupants from fire, smoke and toxic fumes

Resource:
This article is sponsored by Mr. Sparky, a West Seattle electrician.

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The Sugar Saga

Just how many types of sugar are there?

Well, first there are the various sugars that are found in our bodies. Only chemists are interested in those.

Let's move on to the sugars that are used in making desserts!

Sugar comes from either the sugar beet or sugarcane.

Most sugar comes from sugarcane.  Sugarcane, believe it or not, is a grass, cultivated for the sucrose found in its stems. When harvested, the stems are sent to a processing plant, where they are milled and the juice extracted using water, or by a process known as diffusion. The juice is goes through a series of processes to kill enzyimes, and eventually ends up as a syrup, which goes through evaporators which allow the sugar crystals to separate out. (Molasses is a by-product of this procedure).

The resultant crystals of raw sugar are "brown sugar," they have a sticky brown coating. While some brown sugar is packaged for sale, most is bleached or treated by a carbonatation (yes, that is a word) process to produce the white table sugar most people are familiar with.

These sugars can be refined further.

Granulated sugars are what we are used to - otherwise known as table sugar, we use it in home baking or to sprinkle on food before eating, such as tomatoes.

Milled sugars are sugar granules that have been ground to a fine powder - and are thus known as powdered sugar or confectioner's sugar. These are used for icing, or for dusting various confectionery to add sweetness and for appearance.

Resource:
This article sponsored by Luck's Food Decorating Company, wholesalers of edible images for cupcakes, and edible cake decorations.

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Wednesday, July 23, 2014

Elder Care Abuse and Neglect

The American population is growing older and older, and as it does so more and more of the elderly will eventually end up in assisted living care facilities, memory facilities (specializing in those with with Alzheimer's and other diseases that effect the memory and ability to function), and nursing homes.

Sadly, these facilities do not always care for their patients in ways that family members expect. They cut costs by not doing appropriate background checks, or hire individuals who are not skilled enough for the jobs they have to perform in such a facility.

This is where elder care abuse and neglect come in. 

Patients who are bedridden must be turned on their beds, periodically throughout the day, to prevent bed sores. If they are not given sufficient water to drink they can suffer from dehydration. Malnutrition is also a danger.

If you are facing the prospect of having to place your elderly loved one into a care facility, make sure that you talk to all the people involved - the care givers themselves as well as management - to get a feel for the place. Arrange for someone to make periodic visits, if you cannot do so, to ensure that your loved one is being well taken care of.

Resource:
This article sponsored by Michael Atkins Law Group, West Seattle lawyers.

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Tuesday, July 22, 2014

A History of Hookahs

Smoking - whether it be cigarettes, pipes, or hookahs, is not a modern phenomenon. Visitors to the new world discovered the tobacco plant in the 1500s, but indigenous peoples throughout what is now North and Central America were smoking their peace pipes for centuries before that.

Once tobacco was discovered and brought back to Spain and England (by the various explorers of hte new world, it quickly spread in popularity round the world. In the Middle East, the use of a hookah or waterpipe began in Persia, during the Safavid dynasty, (1500s to 1700s).

The traditional waterpipe, which is a large structure consisting of a bowl that holds the tobacco, and the coals used to heat it, a screen on top of the bowl which insures a constant temperature and rate of burning of the coals, a water jar above this through which the heated vapor passes, and hoses extending out from the top, so that several people can smoke from a single bowl at one time.

Such a hookah can be found in the Middle East in a variety of public locations, where men gather to smoke and chat.

Resource:
This article sponsored by Hookah Town, purveyors of hookah pens and hookah sticks.

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Friday, July 18, 2014

Home Building and Repair: Asphalt Shingles

Asphalt shingles were invented in the United States, and were first placed on a house in 1901. By 1939, these asphalt shingles were the most popular home roofing material in the United States - with 11 million squares of shingles produced, and its dominance continues today.

Asphalt prepared roofing was actually invented in 1893, but it took a few years before it was perfected. It wasn't until 1901 that the shingles were actually cut into strips as one layer or multi-layer (otherwise known as tab) shingles.

It was in the 1950s that manually applied adhesives were first applied to the backs of the shingles, which helped to hold the shingles together and secure against high winds. (Shingles are nailed to the roof, but glued to each other.)

There are two types of base materials used for shingles - organic (waste paper, cellulose, etc) that is saturated with asphalt to make it waterproof. Inorganic base material consists of fiberglass, which are not that great to be used in cold-weather locations.

Many shapes of shingles are available, as well as textures, and they can be purchased in different qualities - for example in areas with heavy winds, you can purchase shingles that resist wind very well.

Resource:
This article sponsored by Premier Roofing, one of many Nashville roofing companies.

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Wednesday, July 16, 2014

The difference between concrete and cement?

What is the difference between concrete and cement? Many people confuse the two, or use the terms interchangeably.

A cement is a binder, a substance that sets and hardens as it dries. Cement, therefore, "cements" things together. Cement is only an ingredient - an important ingredient, in concrete.

The type of cement used in concrete (or grout, mortar or stucco) varies depending on what the resulting structure is to be used for. The cement used will be either hydraulic (meaning it will be able to set in water) or non-hydraulic (meaning it will be used on dry land).  ("Hydro" is the Greek for water, and any word that begins with "hydro" invariably has something to do with liquid. Hydraulic brakes, for example, are so called because they use brake fluid, as opposed to air brakes, that use air.)

Concrete can be poured into a variety of shapes, using "forms" that hold the concrete together in the required shape.  When you see a column of concrete, it has been achieved by pouring the concrete into a circular, card-board tube strong enough to hold the accumulated weight of the concrete until it sets.

Resource:
This article sponsored by Pac Rite Inc, purveyors of shipping tubes, storage tubes, and label cores.

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Monday, July 14, 2014

Nutritional Therapy: When did we discover "nutrition?"

Believe it or not, nutrition has been practiced since the time of the Greeks.

Connections between what we ate and how we felt were obvious even then.

For example, there's a stone tablet found in Babylon, dated to about 2500 BC, that advises people with stomach ache to not eat onions for three days.

The study of nutrition in earnest began during in China, where food was classified into "hot" (for example, meats, blood, ginger, and hot spices) and "cold" (green vegetables).

A lot of "old wives tales" are actually nutritionally sound.

Of course, up until the 20th century - from the 1950s onward when TV dinners and additive-laced foods were introduced to the western world, there wasn't much to worry about if people didn't over-indulge in what they ate or drank.

Today, even if people don't "over-indulge" they can still be unhealthy because of the hormones, additives, and other things found in the food we eat. Nutrients have been leached out of our food - and so have to be put back artificially!

Resource:
This article brought to you by Thrive Nutrition ancestry researchers.

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Wednesday, July 9, 2014

Geneaogical Research: Just what is geneaology?

Genealogy  comes from the Greek word (genea) for "generation"; and (logos) the Greek word for "knowledge".

It's very difficult to spell, although if you remember the root Greek word it makes it easier! bo most people just call it the study of their family history.

Genealogy is the study of a person's family - whether performed by that person, or by someone simply interested in the history of that family.

It's not just a question of looking at old newspapers, or checking online records such as passenger lists of steamships that came to the US during the 1800s or 1900s, or the entrance records at Ellis Island. it also delves into oral interviews of the people involved.

In the past (long past) only nobles tracked their family history - people who owned land and wanted to make sure it descended down the proper family line. But since the 1900s, practically everyone has been interested in their family history - where they came from, etc. because they feel it provides a stepping stone to where they are going.

Resource:
This article brought to you by Turtle Trove Ancestry, ancestry researchers.

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Saturday, July 5, 2014

Home design and construction: Bathroom basics

Just what are the bathroom basics?

Various countries have different terminology dealing with the size of bathrooms and what those bathrooms contain. Usually these other countries have developed their bathrooms based on space restrictions, something that has never been a worry in the wide open spaces of the United States!

Here is the terminology for bathroom basics in the United States.

Master bathroom: will have a bathtub, shower, toilet and sink at a minimum, and of course adjoins the "master bedroom."

Full bathroom: contains a bathtub, shower, toilet, and sink, but can be located in a hallway anywhere in the home.

Three/fourths bath: This room will have a toilet, a sink and a shower.

Half bath: Has just a toilet and a sink.  This is also known as a powder room.

However, the way that these types of bathrooms are noted in real estate brochures can be confusing, so be sure that you really understand what you're looking at when you look at the brochures, to make sure you are getting the number and size of bathrooms that you expect!


Resource:
This article brought to you by Benton Development, Seattle custom home builders.

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Thursday, July 3, 2014

Plumbing: What is Hydro-blasting?

Commercial buildings which have foundations of concrete will often require hydroblasting

Hydroblasting, also called hydro demolition (although there is no demolition involved, of course, waterblasting and water jetting, is a technique used for removing the surface area of concrete, or to give a really good cleaning to aluminum or vinyl siding, or even wooden siding.

Whenever it's necessary to remove part of a foundation in order to repair it, you'll often see men with jackhammers - but jackhammers produce vibrations that resonate throughout a structure and can damage it. That's not very safe for the long term health of the building (or for any structure - a bridge, perhaps).

Hydroblasting simply means that a stream of water under tremendously high-pressure is applied to the surface of the concrete, removing it quickly and easily.

That's for commercial uses, but hydroblasting can also be used on any surface (using a less-pressurized stream) to remove dirt and stains and mildew - as from the wooden walls or siding of a house, for example.

Resource:
This article brought to you by Budget Rooter, your source for plumbers in Mason County and plumbers in Pierce County

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Tuesday, July 1, 2014

Manifesto

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