Performing small repairs and completing home improvement projects by yourself is a very rewarding activity. Problem solving skills are honed during each and every project. Those without experience may be scared; the following article will relieve that fear.
If you are planning something major in terms of a home renovation project, make sure you hire a professional to help with the plans. If you do it yourself, you may not have the right plans, technically, and fail. A professional has the knowledge to consider building codes, structural requirements and the design of functional plans to build your project. It may be time to get a new hinge for your door if you can't find any other way to silence the squeak. They can be found at any hardware store. Just take apart the hinge and simply attach every side to the frame and door. Lastly, line up the hinge and slip the pins inside. You should make a list of everything you need before heading out to a home improvement store. A list of everything you will need will keep you from taking multiple trips. It will also keep you better organized. Save money by purchasing a drain snake. It will save you money on expensive and toxic drain cleaners. You need to know what you are doing to use a drain snake. Seeking out advice from a professional may be a good idea prior to working with it. Ensure that you purchase a snake that properly fits your drain. Avoid hiring an unlicensed contractor at all costs. No matter where it is that you currently reside, all contractors are required to have some sort of certification from your state. Although the requirements are not a guarantee that your contractor is competent for the job, they are required by law. Contractors without the right licenses probably don't have professional insurance, which means that working with them is risky. Home improvement projects can run into all types of hazards. Don't buy wall board, sheet rock and drywall that has been made in China. In the last few years, the amount of drywall being brought in from China has increased. Unfortunately, a great deal of these materials do not meet acceptable standards for quality. Also, this drywall can give off harmful gases, which may affect the health of your family. Stain your basement's flooring if you want to improve the look and feel of your space. Staining is a less expensive way to greatly improve the look of your concrete floors. Besides, staining a floor will make it last longer and make it easier to clean. Look for stains to add shine and lustre. Your floors will look more pricy than they really are. Probably one of the most profitable investments anyone can make is finishing a basement. You are essentially creating another room to live in. Discount stores have everything you need as far as building materials. The resale value of a house with a finished basement increases by over 30%. Prior to digging in to any big job with home improvement, it's always nice to let the neighborhood know what you are up to. Having a neighbor doing construction can be quite irritating. Neighbors will be thankful to know the schedule of any work being done. Getting a fence installed around a backyard, or a part of a yard is a great way to improve a home. It keeps undesirable animals and objects out of your yard. It is also able to keep a dog from running away. You can choose any design you want for your fence. When you go to hang new blinds, be certain to measure carefully prior to purchase and installation. Without measuring properly, you may have trouble installing the blinds correctly. There are a lot of different sizes; some are to be installed on the exterior window frame, and some are to be on the interior. As you plan your yearly remodeling projects, focus on the early months during the year for building your budget. This is when you have to watch money the most, as the holidays have just passed. This serves two purposes. First, you don't have as much money to spend this time of year, so it is perfect for planning. Second, since you are financially tight this time of year, you will plan to be as budget-friendly as possible. Home improvement really is a hard-working endeavor that can become easily difficult, but that does not mean it is only for professional or serious home improvers. This is something that everyone can do. The following suggestions can help people of any experience level.
0 Comments
Personal development is an ongoing process of making yourself into the best person you can be. It is reaching inside and pulling out your inner potential. It's important to have some ideas of what you should do to reach your self improvement goals. Some of the advice you'll find below might be just what you need to kick off your self improvement routine.
Many times, stress is the thing that robs people of happiness. When our mind is stressed, our body suffers. Letting go of stress can be the key to better thinking and meeting our goals with clear purpose and calm intent. Make time in your schedule each day to take a few minutes alone and clear your mind. Having a time to refresh can give you peace and improve your self-image. You will miss opportunities if you avoid making important decisions. You need to face these decisions with confidence, even if you aren't totally sure. You will need to develop your instincts to make good choices. Even if you make the wrong decision, you will still have a valuable learning experience. Think of your bad decisions as possibilities you have eliminated. Be sure to read positive books on the subject of personal development. The best personal development books can give you new ideas and advice that could change your life forever. It is always best to check the reviews for a book. Self improvement books can be very poorly written. Pinpoint exactly what is blocking your progress. Sometimes, this can be a difficult job for you to see on your own. In order to change problems you are having, you must identify what they are. If you are able to overcome some hurdles, you might get a clearer picture of what your future holds. Always carry a way to write down thoughts you may have. Carry paper and a pen around with you. Record the thoughts that pop into your head and develop them when you have more time to devote to the subject. Leadership is the first step to personal development. The key to being a leader is influence, according to most people. Take a look at your leadership journey. Are there any events that have had an impact in your life? What were the root changes that occurred? When you work with a group, what attributes do you tend to rely on? By asking yourself these questions, you can become more aware of how you best fit into a team. Start giving other people compliments. By being proactive and reaching out, being nice to others will help you to treat yourself nicely as well. Come up with a little pep talk for yourself. List all of your good qualities on a postcard. Carry it around, and read it when you need to. You could even record yourself reading it or make a video. Sounds intriguing, right? You may find it helpful to discuss your issues with a counselor or other trusted professional, such as your pastor. These types of individuals are trained to help you deal with your problems in a healthy way. These impartial listeners can provide a sympathetic ear or help you deal with troublesome areas of your life. Expressing your problems to a professional is a great way to make yourself feel better and healthier. You should always treat everyone with respect, regardless of who they are or what they are able to do for you. How you treat them reveals more about your own character, than it reveals about theirs. Many people are unaware that diet can affect feelings of depression, as an increase in consumption of complex carbohydrates can help. If you do not eat enough complex carbohydrates, you will not have enough Serotonin. Complex carbs that you can easily eat to raise these levels include whole grains, nuts, raw vegetables and more. If you find that you are constantly having difficulty meeting your goals, take a step back to evaluate what's going on. Take a little time to research what others have done when their goals were similar. You might be able to mimic some of their ideas or learn from their successes. The problem might be that your expectations were set too high, important steps were not taken, or inadequate resources were allocated in working toward your goals. You can learn how to handle difficult problems without over-reacting. Come up with methods that will help relieve your stress and remain calm when problems pop up. Take some time during your day to stop and take breaths. You can stay focused and filled with energy as you work toward your self improvement goals by following a few or all of these tips. Having a wealth of information and knowledge backing you up there is no way you can fail if you just put forth a good amount of effort. SAN FRANCISCO - Most Americans think they're helping the earth when they recycle their old computers, televisions and cell phones.
But chances are they're contributing to a global trade in electronic trash that endangers workers and pollutes the environment overseas. While there are no precise figures, activists estimate that 50 to 80 percent of the 300,000 to 400,000 tons of electronics collected for recycling in the U.S. each year ends up overseas. Workers in countries such as China, India and Nigeria then use hammers, gas burners and their bare hands to extract metals, glass and other recyclables, exposing themselves and the environment to a cocktail of toxic chemicals. "It is being recycled, but it's being recycled in the most horrific way you can imagine," said Jim Puckett of the Basel Action Network, the Seattle-based environmental group that tipped off Hong Kong authorities. "We're preserving our own environment, but contaminating the rest of the world." o Click here for FOXNews.com's Personal Technology Center. The gear most likely to be shipped abroad is collected at free recycling drives, often held each April around Earth Day, recycling industry officials say. The sponsors -- chiefly companies, schools, cities and counties -- often hire the cheapest firms and do not ask enough questions about what becomes of the discarded equipment, the officials say. Many so-called recyclers simply sell the working units and components, then give or sell the remaining scrap to export brokers. "There are a lot of people getting away with exporting e-waste," said John Bekiaris, chief executive of San Francisco-based HMR USA Inc., which collects and disposes of unwanted IT equipment from Bay Area businesses. "Anyone who's disposing of their computer equipment really needs to do a thorough inspection of the vendors they use." The problem could get worse. Most of the 2 million tons of old electronics discarded annually by Americans goes to U.S. landfills, according to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency data. But a growing number of states are banning such waste from landfills, which could drive more waste into the recycling stream and fuel exports, activists say. Many brokers claim they are simply exporting used equipment for reuse in poor countries. That's what happened in September, when customs officials in Hong Kong were tipped off by environmentalists and intercepted two freight containers. They cracked the containers open and found hundreds of old computer monitors and televisions discarded by Americans thousands of miles away. China bans the import of electronic waste, so the containers were sent back to the U.S. The company that shipped out the containers was Fortune Sky USA, a Cordova, Tenn.-based subsidiary of a Chinese company. General manager Vincent Yu said his company thought it was buying and shipping used computers, not old monitors and televisions, and is trying to get its money back. Fortune Sky exports used computers and components to China, Malaysia, Vietnam and other Asian countries. "There's a huge market over there for secondhand computers that we don't use anymore," Yu said. "I don't think it's going to cause any pollution. If the equipment can still be used, then that's good for everybody." Yu refused to say where he bought the material, but Basel Action Network tracked it to a San Antonio, Texas, company that collects computers, printers and other electronics from schools and businesses. Activists complain that most exporters don't test units to make sure they work before sending them overseas. "Reuse is the new excuse. It's the new passport to export," said Puckett of Basel Action Network. "Other countries are facing this glut of exported used equipment under the pretext that it's all going to be reused." At the other end at customs, the goods don't always get checked either. "It is impossible to stop and check every single container imported into Hong Kong," said Kenneth Chan of Hong Kong's Environmental Protection Department. "Smugglers may also deliberately declare their ... waste as goods." In the first nine months of this year, Hong Kong authorities returned 85 containers of electronic junk, including 20 from the U.S. Exporting most electronic waste isn't illegal in the United States. The U.S. does bar the export of monitors and televisions with cathode-ray tubes without permission from the importing country, but federal authorities don't have the resources to check most containers. The EPA recognizes the problem but doesn't believe that stopping exports is the solution, said Matt Hale, who heads the agency's office of solid waste. Since most electronics are manufactured abroad, it makes sense Cloud Ninjas Medium profile to recycle them abroad, Hale said. "What we need to do is work internationally to upgrade the standards (for recycling) wherever it takes place," he said. The EPA is working with environmental groups, recyclers and electronics manufacturers to develop a system to certify companies that recycle electronics responsibly. But so far the various players have not agreed on standards and enforcement. Many activists believe the answer lies in requiring electronics makers to take back and recycle their own products. Such laws would encourage manufacturers to make products that are easier to recycle and contain fewer dangerous chemicals, they say. Eight states, including five this year, have passed such laws, and companies such as Apple, Dell, Hewlett-Packard and Sony now take back their products at no charge. Some require consumers to mail in their old gear, while others have drop-off centers. HP says it also now designs its equipment with fewer toxic materials and has made it easier to recycle. http://www.foxnews.com/story/2007/11/19/recycled-electronics-often-taken-apart-trashed-overseas.html |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
June 2018
Categories |