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Rustic Log Furniture, How to Find Quality Furniture and a Trust Worthy Seller

E-NewsCast Team — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 19:35:24 +0000

The great thing about looking for a retailer or manufacturer of rustic log furniture is there are plenty of sellers out there these days, especially with the age of the world wide web. Since the birth of the internet everyone and there brother seem to have tried to start making and selling all types of rustic furniture online, but what I am sure that they found out is that making log furniture the right way is a hard task to achieve. Now donâ€™t take me the wrong way there are some great builders of this style of furniture and you will notice they are the craftsmen that have been around for a while. So knowing this let me tell you how to make the right decision on choosing your rustic furniture.

One of the first things you need to decide is the species of wood you would like to go with, there are dozens of them out there, but only a couple of good species that will stand up to the elements outside. There is hickory, cypress , pine(not recommended), aromatic cedar, eastern white cedar, Northern white cedar etc. As for the species I mentioned I can tell a little about each, hickory is a nice species but I noticed the furniture I see made is that the diameter of the wood is always small and I get a little suspicious of the strength of it. Cypress, has hardly no grain that I see compared to the rest. Pine is absolutely not for me, it is sappy and soft and it is not very durable. Aromatic cedar is a beautiful wood but when it weathers if turns dark in the elements untreated. Eastern white cedar people will say it is the same as Northern white cedar, but let me tell you its not, I know from working with it. The wood is really knotty and hairy compared to Northern white cedar. The looks are similar in color and the aging process is the same. As for Northern white cedar it weathers to a beautiful silvery gray if untreated and exposed to the elements. Northern white cedar can with stand the elements for years, some say that it will last for 50 years outside untreated, but I can tell you by experience that it really only last for 20 years. White cedar is not sappy at all, making it easier to stain or varnish unlike other species, like pine that will actually have the sap come out years later, right through the paint or varnish that was on there.

Once you decided the species the next thing to do is find the retailer out there selling the log furniture with that wood. When you locate this seller, keep in mind that if that seller is just a middleman, you will not get the service you will get from the actual manufacturer. More than likely, if that person is not the manufacturer and is just a website owner or guru, it is probably just a drop ship situation and they will surely tell you they can get you the furniture right away, when they have no idea of the inventory or how busy the manufacturer really is (donâ€™t be fooled with factory direct, sales pitches). Second, just how much can that person really know about rustic log furniture if they are just an order taker. Dealing with the person who is actually handcrafting your furniture and can tell you exactly when it will be done, is by far a more reliable way to purchase your furniture. Trust me, there are more websites out there selling log furniture then there are manufacturers of it.

Now we can get to the construction of the log furniture. Some log furniture is sanded smooth, some are skipped peeled, some have the bark on and some are completely peeled. As for which one is better, I can only tell you what I think. The sanded log furniture definitely takes away from the rustic feel, skipped peel is a nice look, but I wonder about the smoothness of the wood with just a peel on parts of the log. The furniture with the bark left on definitely has to have some sort of finish on it to keep the bark on, and sometimes I have seen where the bark will peel off over time. Completely peeled log furniture is smooth with out splinters and can easily be treated and has the true rustic look and feel. Getting past that you should then take note of how the log furniture is actually connected together. Some furniture is just butted up together and is nailed, I do not recommend that style of construction. Most have a mortise and tenon connection, which is extremely durable. Things to watch out for with this is the size of the dowels, some out there will go with a smaller diameter dowel meaning their logs are usually smaller too. I recommend asking the diameter and make sure it is at least 1.25â€, since that is the weakest point of the furniture. The diameter of the logs should be no less than 3â€ as far as I am concerned. Most of the rustic log furniture I see on the internet does not meet that size on a good percentage of there lines of furniture, even though it looks large in the pictures I would definitely ask the sizes of the logs to get a good comparison from one builder to the next. The hardware that is used on the log furniture is a big factor also, because if you are going to have your furniture exposed to the rain and snow or what ever you donâ€™t want the hardware starting to bleed or rust, all the hardware should be zinc coated on all parts of the furniture. This is one of the many ways that some of the manufacturers and garage builders cheapen the quality of the furniture. Another thing to look for in the hardware part of it is whether they nail or screw the furniture together, screws are the better way to go than nails, but nails that are hot dipped in glue are just as good as screws. The nails without the glue coating will actually start to back out over time due to the fibers of the wood pushing on them. If you take a closer look at the pictures and ask some of these questions you will get two things out of it, 1. You will find the better quality log furniture and 2. You will find out if that person who is selling you the furniture really truly knows anything about rustic furniture.

Other than construction or species the only thing I can tell you about looking for a quality piece of rustic furniture is that you should take a closer look at the company you are dealing with. Building rustic furniture is not like building a square table that can be pre cut to length and then put together on an assembly line. Rustic furniture needs plenty of design work, custom fitting, lots of judgmental decisions being made do to the differences of the sizes of stock, and craftsmanship that you do not get from the builders that have 75 employees, there is now way that all the employees have these kind of skills or patience or pride, they are on an assembly line slapping the pieces together and getting the furniture out the door to you, plus they have the big money to market the product and get the exposure to be seen by the public. Notice while your looking on the Internet or anywhere else that there are plenty of sites or stores with the same manufacturers, these are the big companies. Getting your rustic furniture from a small company that has been in business for at least 10 years and takes pride in every hand fitted piece, will give you all the things you need to get a quality piece of rustic furniture that will last for a long time to come.

Joseph LaPointe has been making log furniture since he was 15 years old in his family business which has been in business for over 30 yrs successfully making quality log furniture. With this kind of experience you are sure to recieve valuable information. Check us out online at http://www.simply-cedar.com for great info. You can contact us email at simplycedar@dreamscp.com or by phone toll free 1-877-84CEDAR

Brain Foods – How Eating Right Can Save Your Brain

E-NewsCast Team — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 18:50:20 +0000

Our brains work best on the prehistoric diet that shaped their evolution. However, our modern diet is a far cry from that of our ancestors. For generations, hunters and gatherers survived on wide game, wild greens, fruits, berries and roots. The typical western diet, on the other hand, includes large quantities of processed and fast foods.

Jean Carper in her book â€œYour Miracle Brainâ€ found that, compared to a stone age diet, we consume:

Â·One tenth the amount of fibre

Â·A similar amount of carbohydrates but only one quarter as much from fruits and vegetables (the rest tends to be empty calorie sugars)

Â·One third the amount of potassium and almost seven times the amount of sodium (or a ratio of potassium to sodium of roughly 1-2 instead of the preferred 10-1)

Research has shown that this modern diet hampers mental performance and can lead to serious long term deterioration of our brains. In particular, two of the major culprits in this mental deterioration are too much sugar and too few antioxidants.

How Sugar Affects the Brain

The Problem of Too Much Glucose

Glucose, the form of sugar that circulates in the blood, is critical to optimal functioning of the brain. Indeed, glucose is the brainâ€™s exclusive source of fuel. Deficiencies in glucose levels can cause the brain to slow down and malfunction. This blood sugar comes from the foods we eat, particularly from carbohydrates such as sweets and starches.

The trick is to make sure that we produce the right amount of glucose to suit our brainâ€™s requirements. For instance there is evidence that more glucose is burned when the brain is working hard to solve a problem. So in some cases, a quick boost in blood sugar levels may be helpful when the brain is active. However, the bigger problem for most westerners is not having sufficient glucose but having too much.

The diet of most westerners includes many carbohydrates that are quickly converted to glucose. This constant high level of glucose triggers the production of insulin whose job is to allow the glucose to move from the blood and into the cells where it is needed. If the glucose levels are too high, insufficient insulin can be produced to do the job properly. Over time, the cells react by becoming less sensitive to insulin putting more and more strain on the pancreas to make more insulin. This vicious cycle sets the stage for Type 2 diabetes in adults. It also can lead to a number of conditions that affect cognitive function including a thickening of the carotid artery going to the brain and high blood pressure. It is thought that this high glucose/insulin combination affects IQ levels, memory, learning and general brain function.

Getting the Right Amount of Glucose

So how do we prevent this glucose overload? One of the key methods is to pick foods that are converted to glucose slowly which allows the pancreas to keep up with the insulin needs and prevents the development of insulin resistance. In particular, it is important to choose the carbohydrates you eat carefully. Itâ€™s not that all carbohydrates are bad. Itâ€™s just that some create sharp rises in blood glucose while others break down gradually and help regulate the flow of glucose to the brain. Not surprisingly, the â€œfastâ€ or â€œhigh glycemicâ€ carbohydrates include items like refined sugars and cookies. But the list of high glycemic foods is not obvious and includes most breads, rice, packaged cereals, and potatoes. On the other hand, foods such as legumes, nuts, pasta, low fat dairy products, most fruits and vegetables are good at delivering a controlled amount of glucose to the cells.

Antioxidants and the Brain

Free radicals are formed when glucose and oxygen are burned. Much has been written about the damage that free radicals can do to the body. However, the brain is particularly susceptible since it burns more oxygen and glucose than any other organ. (and produces lots of free radicals). Free radicals cause problems in the brain by eating through the defensive layers of the brain cells and destroying neurons. It doesnâ€™t help that the neuron membranes are made of fatty acids that react strongly to the free radicals.

Antioxidants are substances that neutralize the free radicals to stop this cell destruction. They include vitamins C & E as well as beta-carotene and many others. The best way to get these antioxidants working for you is by eating lots of fruits and vegetables. In particular the top ten sources of antioxidants are:

1. Prunes
2. Raisons
3. Berries
4. Garlic
5. Spinach
6. Brussel sprouts
7. Plums
8. Alfalfa sprouts
9. Broccoli
10. Beets

Other important antioxidants include:

Lycopene â€“ This potent antioxidant is found in tomatoes and tomato products such as tomato paste, sauce, soup and juice

Tea â€“ Drinking tea can provide your brain with a quick source of antioxidants. Black or green tea are good but instant teas, bottled teas or herbal teas have little protective value.

Wine â€“ Light drinking (about one drink/day) provides a beneficial level of antioxidants that prevents the decay of brain cells. Red wine in particular, has a high level of antioxidants. On the other hand, excessive drinking is harmful to the brain so you might want to try grape juice as a non-alcoholic alternative.

Chocolate â€“ The good news is that chocolate can be good for you. Pick dark chocolate rather than milk chocolate to maximize the antioxidant content.

It appears that eating â€œsmartâ€ is not only good for general health, but can improve thinking, creativity, learning ability and memory while staving off long term mental deterioration.

David Allen is an award-winning inventor with a strong interest in simple and practical methods to enhance creative thinking. Visit http://www.creativityboosters.com for more easy tools and techniques to increase your creativity.

Vimax Review

E-NewsCast Team — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 18:20:39 +0000

Ok there’s no shame in it by now, you want to lengthen your penis and you think Vimax might be the way to do it. Here is a review that covers some of the main concerns about penis enlargement in general and in particular the use of Vimax.

Do penis enlargement treatments work

Basically in terms of penis enlargement there are 3 main methods that are popular.

1. Surgery
2. Extension equipment
3. Oral treatment in the way of pills and supplements.

Surgery obviously has guaranteed results but is far too scary and expensive for most of us. What most of us want to know is whether non surgical methods can actually work with any level of consistency.

Both extention products and supplements/pills like Vimax have been shown to have success in increasing the length and girth of the average male penis. While you will see some hyperbole with some subjects gaining inches in just weeks the average gainer is shown to grow between 1 and 4 inches over a four month period of taking Vimax. Unfortunately some people achieve no results at all but there are specific things you can do to ensure you are not at that end of the scale.

These tests have spanned some years and thousands of subjects before the products being released to the market and can usually be further verified with visual evidence from satisfied users being displayed in the promotional material on the web.

So in short, to the question of do these supplements work, the answer is Yes. Not always and not for everyone but, yes they are successful in increasing penis size and girth considerably.

Is it safe?

Thankfully being a natural supplement Vimax has no side effects. All ingredients are herbal, naturally occuring substances that have not been modified in any way in the production process. In fact some of the substances already exist in the human body and Vimax simply works to increase their release or better their circulation through the body.

How long will it take me to see results?

Unlike some of the exaggerated stories you might hear it generally takes a full course of 3-4 months to achieve maximum results. You will first notice increases in girth and ‘hang’ around 3-4 weeks. From 4-8 weeks you will see more gains in length and notice stronger more powerful erections and from weeks 8-16 you will notice more of the same up until the penis reaches its genetic limit.

How long must I take Vimax for?

Only until you receive the results you desire. There is no minimum or maximum timeframe. Since results are permanent, you can stop when you reach your ideal goal size.

How much does it cost?

Generally Vimax will set you back around $59 per bottle with discounts for ordering in larger quantities. Reputable companies will offer a money back guarantee so that there is no risk to the purchaser and they may return the product if not happy with the results.

I hope this has further educated you to the pros and cons of Vimax. Ultimately, remember that there is nothing you can’t change. If you want to make a difference to your manhood and your sex life, a reliable option like Vimax is certainly there.

Gary Stephens runs an informational website on male enhancement products and endorses Vimax as the ultimate solution for penile enhancement. For more information on Vimax please see http://www.vimaxsolution.com.

Kegal Exercises During Pregnancy

E-NewsCast Team — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 18:20:37 +0000

You probably became familiar with Kegel exercises during yourpregnancy. Kegel exercises are equally important after pregnancyto help restore the tone and strength of your vaginal wall.Kegel exercises help strengthen your pelvic muscles, whichweaken during childbirth. Why would you want to strengthen thesemuscles? If they are weak, you could have bladder controlproblems. You may also find that intercourse is more fulfillingwhen you have control of your kegel muscles.Not sure how to do your Kegelâ€™s? Pretend that you are trying tostop the flow of urine the next time you are sitting on thetoilet (or anywhere for that matter). Those are the very musclesyou need to contract in order to do your Kegels. You can alsoinsert a finger into your vagina and try squeezing just like youare trying to stop the flow of urine. If you feel tightnessaround your finger, you are performing the exercise correctly.Be sure when you are doing your Kegelâ€™s that you concentrate onthe pelvic floor muscles specifically; try not to do any otherexercises. You should squeeze for about 15 seconds several timesper day.It is important that you donâ€™t overdo your Kegelâ€™s particularlyin the early weeks after birth, or you may become very sore.Consider working up to doing three sets of ten repetitions overthe course of the day.

Book Summary: First, Break All The Rules

E-NewsCast Team — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 18:20:35 +0000

Based on a mammoth research study conducted by the Gallup Organization involving 80,000 managers across different industries, this book explores the challenge of many companies – attaining, keeping and measuring employee satisfaction. Discover how great managers attract, hire, focus, and keep their most talented employees!

Key Ideas:

1. The best managers reject conventional wisdom.

2. The best managers treat every employee as an individual.

3. The best managers never try to fix weaknesses; instead they focus on strengths and talent.

4. The best managers know they are on stage everyday. They know their people are watching every move they make.

5. Measuring employee satisfaction is vital information for your investors.

6. People leave their immediate managers, not the companies they work for.

7. The best managers are those that build a work environment

where the employees answer positively to these 12 Questions:

a. Do I know what is expected of me at work?

b. Do I have the materials and equipment I need to do my work right?

c. At work, do I have the opportunity to do what I do best everyday?

d. In the last seven days, have I received recognition or praise for doing good work?

e. Does my supervisor or someone at work seem to care about me as a person?

f. Is there someone at work who encourages my development?

g. At work, do my opinions seem to count?

h. Does the mission/purpose of my company make me feel my job is important?

i. Are my co-workers committed to doing quality work?

j. Do I have a best friend at work?

k. In the last six months, has someone at work talked to me about my progress?

l. This last year, have I had the opportunity at work to learn and grow?

The Gallup study showed that those companies that reflected positive responses to the 12 questions profited more, were more productive as business units, retained more employees per year, and satisfied more customers.

Without satisfying an employeeâ€™s basic needs first, a manager can never expect the employee to give stellar performance. The basic needs are: knowing what is expected of the employee at work, giving her the equipment and support to do her work right, and answering her basic questions of self-worth and self-esteem by giving praise for good work and caring about her development as a person.

The great manager mantra is donâ€™t try to put in what was left out; instead draw out what was left in. You must hire for talent, and hone that talent into outstanding performance.

More wisdom in a nutshell from First, Break All the Rules:

1. Know what can be taught, and what requires a natural talent.

2. Set the right outcomes, not steps. Standardize the end but not the means. As long as the means are within the companyâ€™s legal boundaries and industry standards,let the employee use his own style to deliver the result or outcome you want.

3. Motivate by focusing on strengths, not weaknesses.

4. Casting is important, if an employee is not performing at excellence, maybe she is not cast in the right role.

5. Every role is noble, respect it enough to hire for talent to match.

6. A manager must excel in the art of the interview. See ifthe candidateâ€™s recurring patterns of behavior match the role he is to fulfill. Ask open-ended questions and let him talk. Listen for specifics.

7. Find ways to measure, count, and reward outcomes.

8. Spend time with your best people. Give constant feedback. If you canâ€™t spend an hour every quarter talking to an employee, then you shouldnâ€™t be a manager.

9. There are many ways of alleviating a problem or non-talent. Devise a support system, find a complementary partner for him, or an alternative role.

10. Do not promote someone until he reaches his level of incompetence; simply offer bigger rewards within the same range of his work. It is better to have an excellent highly paid waitress or bartender on your team than promote him or her to a poor starting-level bar manager.

11. Some homework to do: Study the best managers in the company and revise training to incorporate what they know. Send your talented people to learn new skills or knowledge. Change recruiting practices to hire for talent, revise employee job descriptions and qualifications.

By: Regine P. Azurin and Yvette Pantillahttp://www.bizsum.comA Lot Of Great Books….Too Little Time To ReadFree Book Summaries Of Latest Bestsellers and More!

mailto:freenewsletter@bizsum.comBusinessSummaries is a BusinessSummaries.com service.

(c) Copyright 2001-2005, BusinessSummaries.com

Regine Azurin is the President of a company that provides business book summaries of the latest bestsellers for busy executives and entrepreneurs.

Digital Photos: Printing on a Budget

E-NewsCast Team — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 18:20:33 +0000

We are a two printer family. Yes, we have the “good printer” and the “little printer.” The “little printer” is the budget printer and the subject of this article. Anything that’s not critical as regards archival permanence gets printed in the “little printer.”

While the good printer is for archival, arty work, we bought the “little printer” for run of the mill printing such as e-mails, small family photos, birthday cards for the grandchildren and the like.

Choosing a Budget Printer
The “little printer” is an Epson Stylus C45 and prints up to A4 size in full colour. It has two ink cartridges: a black cartridge and a three colour cartridge.

My wife sent me up to the post office to get it about six months ago for $79; Australian dollars, that is. Now they’ve come down in price to $59.

Other manufacturers market their own budget priced printers. Have a look around and you’ll find one to meet your budget.

The reproduction of colour and detail is excellent. What more could you ask for in a budget printer?

Lifespan of a Budget Printer
Now, I don’t expect a budget printer to have an enduring lifespan. In a commercial print shop I suppose a week would see it out. But with the amount of work it will get at our place it’s reasonable to expect to get years of trouble free budget printing out of it.

Slow Printing
The only downside that I can see is that printing a top quality colour photo is slow. A digital photo printed at A4 size at top quality, takes about 20 minutes. But that’s fine if budget is the key word and time is on your side. The important thing is your ability to produce quality, budget, colour photos at home. Of course, you won’t be printing A4 all the time.

Ink Cartridge Refilling Process
I make a major saving by refilling my ink cartridges with after market (non genuine) ink. This involves removing some ink from the various coloured ink bottles with a syringe and injecting it into the correct ink tank in the ink cartridge.

The refilling process should not be a messy business provided you take suitable precautions. I put some newspaper on the kitchen table for the refilling process. Between each colour, I wash the syringe in a trickle of water, in a jam jar lid, in the laundry tub.

Obstacles to Ink Cartridge Refilling
In the case of Epson, the manufacturer has tried to beat aftermarket ink producers by designing a chip into the cartridge to tell the printer that an empty cartridge is empty. However, not to be thwarted, the aftermarket ink manufacturer has produced a chip reseter to reset the chip to tell the printer that the refilled ink cartridge is full.

The chip reseter is a small computer type gadget, housed in a plastic case and a little bigger than a matchbox. You simply press the ink cartridge against the pins on the chip reseter, a red light flashes and your refilled ink cartridge is ready to go again; as good as new for a small part of the price of a new ink cartridge. Of course, it’s a bit time consuming, but that’s how it is with budget systems, isn’t it?

With other brands of printer it’s much more straightforward. Just whip the empty cartridge out, refill it, put it back in, tell the printer it’s got a full ink cartridge and away you go.

Budget Photo Printing Paper
By looking around Ebay for budget priced photo printing paper, I’ve also kept this expense well within the budget requirements for run of the mill digital photo printing jobs.

Archival Permanence
Although the manufacturers of both the budget ink and the budget printing paper assure me that their products are of a high standard, I would not trust an image requiring archival permanence to my budget printing system. Of course, it may be quite OK. I have no way of knowing.

Warranty
I’ve had no print head problems with the budget ink, but the possibility exists that you could clog the print head and void your warranty at the same time. I work it out this way:

They sell the printers cheap and make their money on the ink and paper. A black and a colour cartridge cost about a third to a half the cost of a new printer. Bundled with the new printer is a pair of cartridges. If I need to buy a new printer every fifth ink cartridge refill, I’ll be in front. But I’m doing better than that.

All on a Budget
Following this budget digital photo printing regime you can be one of those families or singles with photos on the fridge, photos on the TV, photos on the microwave, photos everywhere, all on a budget.

Laurie McArthur is a wilderness landscape photographer based on the New South Wales Far South Coast, Australia.
Laurie’s images may be viewed at http://www.southimage.net/