Family Winter Vacation Packing List!

We’ve finally entered 2017. Christmas came and went, and if you managed to recover from the last New Year’s Eve, I’m guessing you’re now ready to start planning your vacation. Well, if you’re anything like the other 43% of Americans, you are looking forward to escaping the “winter doldrums.”

If you try reading any travel publications, and browse the web for a couple of minutes, you’ll definitely find thousand of words of common sensical and somewhat vague advice on how to prepare for your vacation. Dress in layers, pack enough stuff, but too much – you already know all of that.

What you need is some convenient advice that can help you figure out where to start packing!

We need to point out that we’re not talking about preparing for a ski trip – that’s its own special challenge – this is a list for a more causal winter vacation. However, most travelers should find these packing tips rather helpful.

Packing for a Winter Vacation

 

 ·         Hats, Shoes and Gloves

When we talk about hats, you need something that completely covers your ears, the back of your neck and is made out of thin but warm material for maximum warmth. Same thing with gloves – they should be light and breathable – but you have to make sure that they are waterproof.

When it comes to shoes, get something light on lacing, of course waterproof and it would be wise to pick up a pair of black shoes, so that they don’t show any slush or mud stains.

 ·         Winter Clothing

So you definitely know you should dress in layers – but where should you exactly start? Better yet – where should you stop? You don’t want to look like the Michelin man after all. So, when you’re traveling during the winter, you should take a “morning paper” approach, in order to figure out what you should pack and ultimately, wear.

For starter, get a long-sleeve shirt if you want to read your morning papers indoors. Next, grab a hooded, long-sleeve shirt for getting your paper from the stoop. You’ll need a wool sweater for grabbing your paper from the curb and finally a light windproof outer shell for getting your paper from the curb in the rain. That way, you’ll be ready for basically any weather conditions.

·         Additional Accessories

While this may seem surprising, you should bring some sunscreen, and while it may seem counterintuitive, you have to realize that sunburn from reflection off of snow can be just as bad as the ones you get during the summer. A nice, light scarf is also a compact, but a rather effective addition to your travel bag.

Even a weak, winter sunlight can be harsh on your eyes, so you should pack at least one pair of polarized sunglasses. During the winter, the sun can be much lower in the sky, therefore, it’s far more likely to be in line of your sight during the short daylight hours, especially when you’re driving. And if you plan on spending a lot of time outdoors, bring a base layer to keep your feet and legs comfortable.

Traveling Abroad?

If you’re traveling to another country, you should pack everything we mentioned above, but you should also bring this:

•  An electronic plug converter, because your US plug probably isn’t going to work in another country, and if you’re traveling with a toddler, you should also download a fast ExpressVPN, in case you’re traveling to a country that blocks Netflix and Hulu. Your kids need to have entertainment, don’t they?
•  In case your child has a different surname than you, or you’re traveling without your spouse who shares the surname with your kid, you should bring some evidence of your relationship, just in case. This is probably not intuitive, but it will surely speed up any immigration queues.
• If you’re going to one of European Economic Area countries (make sure that you’re aware if you do), make sure to get proper insurance documents, like the EHI Card, make a couple of copies and email a couple of copies of them to yourself.

Conclusion

Finally, we have to urge you to try to resist the urge to bring some of your favorite clothes and gear. And while your favorite XXL, wool jacket would look great on you and all, you should think about packing stuff you don’t actually before you put anything in your suitcase and depart.

These urges are strong, but you should try to look at every item during the packing process, and just ask yourself, “Do I really need this?” and look at those things last, because by the end of your packing, you’ll probably deem them unnecessary, through more logically considered choices. By Adam Ferraresi

Adam, a reasonably successful web development has been publishing articles on wefollowtech.com for the last couple of years. When he is not hard at work you can find him on the basketball court or at the nearest Chinese restaurant, eating his favorite Chow Mein and reading fortune cookies.

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Happy and Mobile in Old Age

As we grow old, our bodies and immune system becomes weak and we get prone to developing various health issues. In addition to the possibility of developing various diseases commonly associated with old age, such as dementia, diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases, increasing age also limits our mobility.

Related infographic: Elderly and the world wide web.

Joint pain and arthritis are common problems among the elderly. Even if people take good care of themselves and keep the diseases at bay, they do get affected by mobility issues as they age which affect the quality of their lives.

Here comes the role of assistive technology. Commonly known as mobility aids, the sole purpose for the development of these tools is to enable the elderly to continue with their activities and regular lifestyle. With the help of assistive technology, seniors can avoid becoming dependent on their family members or nurses, and can perform their tasks on their own.

What Comes Under Assistive Technology?

Dr. Helen Hoenig, an Associate Professor at Duke University and Chief of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at Durham VAMC, assistive technology can be defined as  “all those devices that are used to compensate for physical limitations”. According to her, the term can be narrowed down to refer to those devices, tools, orthotics, and prosthetics that are used to help someone carry out an activity.

How Assistive Technology Helps in Improving the Quality of Life for Elderly

Seniors, when faced with limited mobility, become dependent on others for carrying out even the simplest of tasks of their daily lives, such as walking, eating, self-cleaning, and changing clothes. Many people fail to accept this new reality of life or do not like to ask for help in the simplest acts. In the absence of any solution, seniors become unhappy and even go into depression.

On the other hand, dealing with older people with limited mobility is also a difficult and challenging task for their families. When family members are unable to take good care of such old people, they transfer them to nursing facilities or assisted living centers. Moving away from their loved ones is even more disturbing for a majority of seniors and makes them more unhappy and depressed.   

Mobility Aids can be of extreme help in such situations, both for the elderly and their families. They improve the mobility of the elderly and thus, enable them to perform their own tasks. Also, when seniors have such helpful devices, they do not give up on life and continue pursuing their interests. In this way, the increasing age does not affect the quality of their lives.

Common Mobility Aids and Their Link to Happiness

Mobility aids that are most commonly needed and used by elderly include:

·         Walking Aids

·         Wheelchairs

·         Electric Scooters

·         Portable lifters and Ramps

·         Recline and Lift Chairs

·         Stair Lifts

·         Knee Scooters

·         Leg Lifters

·         Car Transfer Aids

With the use of any one or multiple of the above mentioned devices, the quality of life improves in old age. This may not be important to young and healthy people but for seniors, even the ability to continue living a normal life despite suffering from limited mobility is of great pleasure. If an old person with arthritis is able to visit his/her friends, to go to his/her favorite restaurant, or the nearest park, the pleasure he/she will get is beyond comparison.

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Geothermal Heating and Cooling

Regardless of where you bare in the world, you are experience varying temperatures. For some localities, winters can be brutally cold while areas will always find it hard to believe that temperatures could go beyond zero degrees. This variation is part of what makes the study of climate an enticing mystery.

image:pinterest.com

In the changing temperatures, and without regard to the season, the temperature on the ground remains unchanged. The earth can trap heat in itself and retain reasonably constant temperatures. Even when the area above ground is frozen, the earth will have absorbed at least 47 percent of the sun’s heat to keep it warm enough for human inhabitation. Experts are making use of this knowledge to introduce a way of heating and cooling that is less harmful to Mother Earth.

•      Geothermal Heating

The heat from the ground is trapped to heat your home using underground pipes called loops. The loop is installed either horizontally or vertically to enable a transparent exchange of fluids from the ground to the surface. If you get deeper into the ground (beyond 70 feet), you will find pockets of hot water that get even hotter with depth. This heat is sent up through the loop to the surface, where it heats up the foundation of your home or office. When the ground is warmed up, the heat insulates into the building and heats it. This technology is even used to generate geothermal power, which is a renewable source of energy. Your bank account will thank you for being innovative, as you will save at least 80 percent of your energy consumption if you embrace geothermal heating.

•      Geothermal Cooling

Geothermal cooling works in the reverse of the heating process. Instead of sending warm air through the loop to the ground and effectively heating your home, the cooling process takes the warm or hot air from the atmosphere and sends it to the ground. The loop either returns the heat to the ground or uses it to heat up water in your hot water tank. At the end of it, you still save some money from the cooling system that will stay turned off for longer and you will not have to use the heater for your water.

How it all works

•      Circulation

You have some underground pipes installed beneath the surface of the earth, and you have some more above the ground. The pipes above the ground move water into the pipes buried underneath. The underground water heats up the water in the pipes and circulates the heat all the way from below to the surface of the earth.

•      Absorption

As the water goes up the loop, it heats up the rocks that form the foundation of your building.

•      Heat Exchange

The heat that the water generates from underground can be put into many uses. You could use it to heat spaces, or you could heat up your water with it. When the surfaces are heated, you will only require minimal amounts of fossil fuel-based energy to heat up the building.

•      Recirculation

Once the water has been sent up the loop, it cools down upon contact with the temperatures above the ground. This works well also at times when you use geothermal energy for cooling. The up and down movement works perfectly to keep you comfortable, alternating between heating the surfaces and cooling them.

The use of fossil energy has drained earth of essential elements that we may never recover again. We have spent the better part of their time on Earth ruining it. It does not hurt making some amends. Using a cleaner source of energy could be a great starting point. 

Written by the staff of Controlled Aire Heating and Cooling in Moberly, MO.

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How to Effectively Negotiate a Commercial Real Estate Deal

Every business owner knows how important securing the right location is for their business. They want to make sure that the commercial space they lease will be a good choice for their business, as it will play a vital role in getting them noticed by new customers and frequented by loyalists. As a real estate agent, you have to make sure you are able to produce a real estate lease agreement properly. This means that it should be completed in due time and every revision is finished so that a deal can be closed.

image:pixabay.com

If you are new to commercial real estate properties, here are the things you need to do to help out your clients find a location to rent out:

Other Options

If the business owner came to you looking for some advice on which addresses would be good for his business, it is your job as the real estate agent to give them some options to consider. You will have to factor in how much money they are willing to spend for the property so that you can find him a number of options to go through. Apart from giving him the price of the commercial real estate property, you also have to let him know whether or not there will be increases in the rent every year he chooses to renew his lease. This way, they will be aware of this and not be surprised of any additional fees he will have to pay when they decides to continue their lease.

Hidden Costs

As a real estate agent, you also have to let your clients know of any costs that may not be included in the lease. This is because there are commercial real estate properties wherein tenants are still responsible to take care of maintenance of the common areas in the property. Make sure you point out each of these costs upfront so that if there are any negotiations needed to be done, it can be done before the deal is closed.

Length of the Lease

Usually, commercial real estate leases have a term of one or two years. There is also an option to renew the lease, depending on the business owner's decision. The good thing about a one year term is that it does not necessarily tie in the business owner to the property for such a long time. And if they decide to renew their lease, they can choose to do so; especially if the location turned out to be favorable for their business. There are, however, businesses wherein location security plays an important factor on the success of the business. In such cases, the business owner may negotiate a longer term for the contract.

Exemptions or Favorable Clauses

Since your client will be signing a contract with the owner of the property, you have to make sure that they are fully aware of all the things in the contract they are about to sign. At the same time, you also have to discuss whether or not there are some favorable clauses that they may be entitled to. Make sure you check with the property owner to see if they permit subleasing the commercial real estate property. This is especially helpful in the event your client decides to close their business or relocate to another address.

At the same time, you have to make sure you discuss with the property owner of any potential improvements that may be done to the property. This includes repainting the walls, installing fixtures and even putting up any signages. By knowing these things, you'll be able to provide the right information that your potential client needs.

Final Check

Once the agreement has been prepared, you have to make sure you check out everything to verify that the information includes all the things that were agreed upon prior to signing the contract. You have to treat the agreement as if it was your own, so you can also safeguard the interests of your customer. This will help you build a relationship with your customers so that they know they can trust you for any future commercial real estate property they need to lease.

Always see to it that you provide all the necessary information a potential renter needs before they make a decision on whether or not they should rent the property. In doing so, you'll be able to make the process of renting a commercial real estate property easier for your clients.

Written by the experts at Columbia Real Estate, the most knowledgeable agents for real estate in Columbia, MO.

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