Archive for November, 2010
How to Know When a Relationship Is Over
November 30th, 2010 |How Do You Know When a Relationship Is Over?
Sure, your relationship started out fantastic — think back to that first date, the electricity of meeting someone new, the fire in your eyes. Everything seemed easy and natural, you should be completely ecstatic about this relationship, right?
If things between you and your lover have started to cool off or you just don’t “feel” as happy as you used to, it may be time to give your partner notice that you’re moving on. If it isn’t quite time to make that drastic of a change, maybe a series of smaller changes would help steer you and your lover back to Paradise.
If you’re not sure, check for the following six signs to determine if your relationship is completely over.
1. Feeling distant?
It is a terrible feeling — do you sometimes feel like you and your partner are so far apart that you can’t possibly communicate across the divide?
If you feel like there’s a chasm between the two of you, something is definitely wrong. Just like we take a look at how our body is feeling to determine if we’re sick, these kinds of feelings in a relationship mean that something is missing.
Maybe there was a time when the two of you could talk without opening your mouths, but now one of you just isn’t communicating, visually or otherwise. Maybe you don’t feel like communicating to your partner at all, or that it is a “sure thing” that the two of you will be doing the same old thing tonight.
You can give yourself a mental workout trying to figure out where the distance comes from, but sometimes people create this distance when they “check out” of a relationship. Makes it easier for them to say goodbye when the inevitable happens.
2. Where Are the Warm & Fuzzy Feelings?
Think about your lover. Did something change in your body? Did you smile? Did you wiggle in your chair?
If you didn’t, your relationship is in dutch. There was a time when every thought of your lover made you melt into the floor. If the only thoughts you have about this person now are thoughts of frustration or sadness, this one may already be out the door.
3. No More Sex
If you can’t remember the last time you and your partner had a romp in the sack together, or if you aren’t even interested in remembering, this is the surest sign of all that your relationship is over. Look, every relationship goes through dry spells or slow periods of lovemaking, but it is that complete lack of desire or eagerness to make love that points out how poorly your partnership is going.
4. Fighting All the Time
I’ll be the first person to admit that couples fight from time to time. A few fights here and there is healthy.
If you and your lover have kept the neighbors up for days from your bickering, or if you’ve been ignoring each other or making jabs at each other for days on end, you two have simply been fighting way too much. If couples didn’t fight, they’d never really learn about one another. It is when you spend more time fighting than not fighting that a problem arises. This is a dangerous sign, as it simply means that you don’t like each other all that much. Put simply, if neither one of you wants to work on your fighting, the only other way to end the yelling and name-calling is to end the relationship itself.
5. Hate, Hate, Hate
Is hate all around you? Do you two find yourselves picking on one another’s taste in music, food, friends, pretty much everything?
If a person is annoying you in every way — the way they pour a glass of water, the way they sound in the shower, etc — you’ve got some serious work to do if you want to stay in a relationship with them. The other thing to consider — maybe that person really is this annoying, or maybe you are. Either way, staying in a relationship with someone you hate, or who hates you, is less healthy than getting out of it. So get out of there.
6. Scared About the Future
There was a time when the two of you loved nothing more than planning time together. Picnics on the weekend, summer vacations, even shopping trips were fun events worth spending time together.
Now, your partner asks about a trip to Mexico this summer and you completely ignore it. Or maybe you hint that you should go see your lover’s family this Spring Break, and nothing more is ever said. Bad sign.
If this is happening, don’t jump to the conclusion that your relationship is doomed. Talking can help. But if you or your partner are unwilling to make firm plans with each other, it means that one or both of you are worried that you won’t be together when it is time for that plan to be executed. If the two of you can’t imagine a fun future vacation together, how can you be planning a relationship that could end in having kids together or even marriage?
None of these six signs are sure signs that your relationship can not be saved. Having said that, if you’re have been noticing that most of these signs sound like you, it may be time to take complete stock of what the two of you are really sharing.
It is up to the two people in the relationship to decide if the pairing is worthwhile or not, so (even though it is a cliche) now is the time to really “listen to your heart”. While I wouldn’t advise you ignore the signs completely, I suggest you talk to your partner before deciding you are Splitsville.
See also:
How to Be a Good Husband
November 29th, 2010 |How to Be a Good Husband to Your Wife
“Getting married is a lot like getting into a tub of hot water. After you get used to it, it ain’t so hot.”
Minnie Pearl
Knowing how to be a good husband means knowing what your wife wants. If you want to make your wife happy–either to increase the romance in your relationship or to cool her off after you made a mistake–you need to learn to be a good husband.
So what is a “good husband” anyway? Different people will have different opinions about just what makes a husband good. Generally, you know you’re a good husband if you have a happy wife.
What a Happy Wife Looks Like
A happy wife has the freedom to engage in her own hobbies though she shares some interests with her husband.
Speaking of her husband–he is a man with a job that allows them to maintain their lifestyle without taking him away from the home too often. The wife may work, or not, depending on her preference.
A happy wife has a husband who loves her–she is sure that he loves her because he does things to show her his love. A good husband does the little things and the big things needed to maintain his wife’s happiness. A happy husband and wife have a lighthearted and romantic time together.
A happy wife is not the house-cleaner and child-raiser–she shares those chores with her husband. This is not just a verbal contract, but a part of their marriage together, sharing the work of running a home equally between them.
A good husband doesn’t make his wife’s life perfect–but he makes her feel content with her life and her marriage, and the two are optimistic about their future together.
What Does Your Wife Want?
There are five things that most women want out of their husbands. If you can provide these five things, you’ll have a happy wife.
Emotional honesty. This means being “open” about your emotions with your wife. The way you encourage this is to talk all the time. Talk about your job, talk about her job, talk about your friends, your feelings, anything at all she wants to talk about. This emotional honesty makes the two of you a better team, and it makes it easier to share an entire lifetime with your wife.
A strong emotional connection. You can talk all you want and still not have an emotional connection. A good husband and wife team should be more than business partners or good friends–they should make love and share their love as often as possible. Be your wife’s lover, friend, and sounding board as often as she needs.
A good provider. Regardless of how the gender roles work in your house, being part of a marriage means providing at least 50% of the family’s income or doing 50% of the family work. You don’t need to make a million dollars a year, but you should be in a work situation that you’re proud of and be able to supply your family’s needs.
A partner that wants to be happy. Being depressed or mentally unhealthy is a big problem for those who love you, especially your wife who lives with you every day. Improve your mental health–become a happier person, do things you like together, and make sacrifices here and there to keep yourselves mentally healthy and happy.
A partner that shows interest. If you learn the ins and outs of your wife’s needs, emotionally, financially, or otherwise, she will grow closer to you, and learn to trust and love you all the more for it.
How to Be a Good Husband – Tips and Advice
Here’s ten things you can do on a daily basis to make your wife happy and be a good husband.
1. Cook a meal just for you and your wife, no kids allowed. We don’t often get to sit and eat an adult meal (with dessert and wine) without talking about the kids’ school or some other nonsense. Cook your wife’s favorite fancy meal, and surprise her after a long day at work. Don’t forget a babysitter.
2. Be friends with your wife’s family and friends. This shows her that her world is as important to you as it is to her. Be friendly to your wife’s family every day, and your future with her (and her friends and family) will be easier for it.
3. Every day, do one chore around the house. Even if today isn’t “cleaning day”, go ahead and sweep or mop or vacuum something. If you and your wife both do one small thing every day around the house, the work load will shrink remarkably, and you’ll show each other that you’re willing to work together.
4. Pick up your wife’s favorite snack or dessert on the way home from work. Not only does it prove you’re thinking about her while you’re at work, but she gets a sweet treat to share with you.
5. Give your wife a back massage or rub her feet. Physical contact strengthens your love, and she’ll probably do you a favor in return.
6. Pay your wife a new compliment each morning. Don’t just say the thing that pops up first in your head–spend some time thinking about her and what you love about her.
7. Do something fun every day. It can be a simple word game or funny dance to make her laugh, a trip to the driving range or mini golf, or making dinner together with your kids. A house filled with laughter is a house with a happy wife.
8. Kiss your wife first thing every morning.
9. Get into a sports team with your wife. She may think she doesn’t like sports, but I bet there’s a team she can get behind. If you and your wife are both Lakers fans, I can guarantee a few months out of the year of happy husband and wife time watching basketball.
10. Prepare a cup of coffee every morning for your wife before she wakes up. This is a small step that goes a long way toward making a happy wife.
Your actions make you a good husband. It is as simple as this. Do nice things for her all the time, give her what she wants in a husband, and think of her needs before you think of your own. If you can follow that advice, you’ll be the world’s best husband.
See also:
Pizza Hut Coupons
November 28th, 2010 |Free Pizza Hut Coupons
Pizza Hut is the largest pizza delivery chain in America and one of the largest restaurant chains in the world. Pizza Hut is changing its image a little, opening “Pizza Hut Italian Bistro” restaurants, traditional “Pizza Huts”, and delivery-only mini-restaurants called simply “The Hut.” No matter which location you go to you’re going to get pretty much the same thing–American-style delivery pizza, “pasta” dishes, desserts, and maybe a salad bar.
The food is standard by American standards, and the coupon program is very traditional as well. We love our free Pizza Hut coupons, and Pizza Hut releases enough coupons every year to choke a horse.
Printable Pizza Hut Coupons on the Internet and Elsewhere in 2011
There are three basic types of coupons that Pizza Hut restaurants offer.
The most common are the printed type that the company regularly hands out at their restaurant locations by sticking them to the box before a delivery. These coupons are of the “buy a large get a medium half price” variety, but you can save a little money this way.
Second, you can find printable Pizza Hut coupons on the Internet and use them either in-store or as online coupon codes when placing your order. These are usually the same deals you can find in the printed coupon selection, but you don’t have to physically have the coupon to get the deal.
Finally, there are official Pizza Hut coupon codes. Pizza Hut has some coupons on their website that you just click and apply automatically to your order. These are the easiest to use, and they’re sometimes an even better set of deals than printable coupons. It is common to find a “buy one get one free” type deal with online coupons.
Where to Get PizzaHut Coupons
First, you should sign up for the monthly email from the Pizza Hut website. This email has exclusive coupons.
Check your newspaper’s Sunday edition for Pizza Hut coupons. The company has been using this method of distributing coupons for years, and it is likely that your newspaper carries Pizza Hut ads.
Every time you order from Pizza Hut, the restaurant will hand you a whole sheet of coupons. Either taped to the pizza box or handed over as part of your change or receipt, you should use these coupons the next time you order. Otherwise you’re throwing money away.
Pizza Hut coupons are everywhere, from the website to your mailbox to the Internet. Ordering from Pizza Hut without using a coupon is a great way to waste money–if nothing else, you should be able to find a coupon for a free soda rattling around in your junk drawer.
See also:
- Printable Arbys Coupons
- Free Chuck E Cheese Coupons
- Red Lobster Coupons 2010
- Olive Garden Coupons
- Golden Corral Coupons
How to Get Mortgage Quotes Online
November 26th, 2010 |How to Get Mortgage Quotes Online
Getting quotes from mortgage lenders is a necessary part of any home-buying process. To save time and to broaden the scope of your mortgage search, start your hunt online.
The Internet has changed all aspects of the home buying process, including the way we shop for homes and compare mortgages and lenders. It used to be true that online mortgage lending was a shady business, with limited choices and terrible rates. With more options for online mortgages than ever, shopping for mortgage quotes online is not the hit or miss business it once was.
Advantages of Getting Mortgage Quotes Online
Shopping online for mortgage quotes means you can get several quotes all at the same time rather than call multiple phone numbers of show up at lots of different mortgage offices.
Along with that, using the Internet lets you shop at your convenience, not just during someone else’s business hours. That means shopping for mortgage quotes day or night. Working full-time doesn’t leave much room for quote shopping, so do your mortgage quote homework at your convenience.
Downsides of Getting Mortgage Quotes Online
Of course there will always be businesses that try to take advantage of people online. Your best bet is to get mortgage quotes from companies whose names you know, or who have offices you can contact. Smaller mortgage companies may well be the real deal, but if you can’t talk to a human being related to the company you should be wary.
The biggest downside of online mortgage quote hunting is the fact that your quote may not be as accurate as a mortgage quote from a real person in a real office. Depending on things like debt-to-earning ratio, personal credit history, and other factors, a mortgage quote may vary widely. No online entity can measure all the various things that go into offering a mortgage quote perfectly, and at the same time, these websites can’t answer your question or advise you as you go along like an in-house mortgage office. Of course, when you get an online mortgage quote, you will speak to an agent eventually. But the goings may be slow in terms of getting an accurate quote.
Taking that into consideration, here’s seven steps to finding a mortgage quote online.
1. Figure out what size of mortgage you are looking for
Remember that you will pay a better price for the home if you put down at least 1/5 of the cost of the entire loan in cash. The more you put down, the better your deal, but there’s a limit. There’s no use paying more than 50% of the price of the loan, as the mortgage benefit for putting money down stops at 50%.
2. Gather your financial information
You’re going to be entering lots of annoying financial details in lots of little text boxes for a few days, so it is time to get all your financial details organized and together. The better your organization, the easier your mortgage search. You’ll be putting these numbers into boxes over and over again, so get your typing fingers warmed up.
What kinds of financial details do you need? Annual household income, tax details, references, your mother’s maiden name . . . the more information you have, the better off you’ll be.
3. Get a lot of generic quotes
You’ll start your online mortgage quote search by getting a huge number of fairly generic quote from an equally huge number of lenders. Bonus–generic mortgage quotes don’t require the kind of financial details that more detailed quotes do, so it takes less time to get these quotes, plus your personal information won’t be displayed for the world to (potentially) see.
The idea here is to get together a list of just a few lenders that you want to ask for more specific quotes.
Remember to get your quotes around the same time, as interest rates change multiple times a day.
4. Pay attention to the interest rate
It isn’t true that the interest rate is the only factor you should use to determine if a mortgage quote is good for you, but you should still try to secure a quote with the best interest rate. This is a great way to start thinning the herd of mortgage quotes.
5. Narrow down your list
Now that you have something of a short list of potential lenders, it is time to condense that list even further. Pick five quotes to research further, then head back to their web sites and fill out the more specific mortgage quote functions. This will give you more accurate quotes.
6. Evaluate, evaluate, evaluate
It’s time for another round of mortgage quote evaluations–you have better quotes now, so choose from those five the one quote that you think would work best for your specific situation. This may not be the quote with the best interest rate–so pay attention to other factors too.
7. Research your choice online
So you have one lender’s name that you want to use for your mortgage–it’s time to go online a evaluate that lender, especially if it is from a company you’re not familiar with.
Finding a mortgage quote online isn’t as backbreaking an operation as it seems. As long as you stick to companies you trust, gather your financial materials into one place, do the proper research, and don’t just focus on the interest rate, you can get just as accurate a mortgage quote online as you’d get in a bank office.
See also:
- LowerMyBills.com
- How to Calculate Mortgage Payments
- What Is a FICO Score?
- How Does a Credit Report Work?
- What Is Equity?
How to Lose Weight in a Week
November 25th, 2010 |How to Lose Weight in a Week
Most doctors will tell you that a diet takes time, and that the amount of weight you can lose in the first week of a diet is somewhere in the neighborhood of five pounds, depending on your body size and type.
Losing weight in just a week is difficult because changing your habits enough to see weight loss after just seven days can be really tough. Here are three diet plans said to help you lose tons of weight in under a fortnight.
Calorie Restriction
Though it isn’t really “a diet”, restricting the calories you take in is the easiest way to lose weight fast. For most people, weight gain and loss is a simple formula–the calories you take in minus the calories you burn off equals your net weight gain or loss. There are a few other factors, but for the most part you can change your weight by changing the amount of calories you eat.
Though the FDA recommends most people eat a 2,000 calorie diet (an oft-quoted an unrealistic number for most of us), you can restrict yourself to 1,600 or so calories a day without doing any real harm.
The goal is to restrict yourself to 1,600 “good” calories, meaning whole grains, fiber, proteins, etc., and avoid salts, sugar, fat, and alcohol. If you combine your caloric restriction with twenty minutes of cardio exercise a day, you could see as much as three pounds shed within seven nights.
One key to restricting calories is to take a day off every now and then. If you eat 1,600 calories a day for four days, you can go ahead and break the rules for a day and eat what you like. This keeps your body healthy and full of the nutrients it needs (remember, fat is a nutrient) and it keeps you motivated to lose weight. (See also: What Is a 1200 Calorie Diet?)
The Sacred Heart Diet
This diet was created as a quick way to help heart patients lose “a significant amount of weight” in just a week before serious heart surgery. Since many of these surgeries have to be done quick, heart patients don’t always have six months to lose weight before they go under the knife.
This diet is similar to the cabbage soup diet, except that this soup is much tastier, so the diet’s easier to stick with. No one knows who created this diet– though it was rumored to be from hospitals like the Cleveland Clinic or Sacred Heart Hospital in Canada, no one has taken credit for it–but it is proven to be an effective weight loss tool. You can lose from ten to twenty pounds in a single week if you follow the diet religiously and exercise more. This is not realistic weight loss, and by most doctor’s standards it isn’t exactly “healthy”, but for people about to undergo surgery of any kind it can be a huge help.
The idea behind the Sacred Heart Diet is to eat a special “fat-burning soup” every day while you follow a diet plan for each day of the week. The recipe for the soup is simple, and pretty tasty. It includes tomatoes, green beans, celery, green peppers, green onions, carrots, chicken broth, and a few seasonings.
Here’s the Sacred Heart Diet plan for each day of your seven-day diet. Remember that you can eat as much of the fat-burning soup as you want while eating the other foods allotted for that day.
Day One–Soup and any fruit except for bananas.
Day Two–Soup and vegetables–no dry beans, peas, or corn. At dinner on Day Two, you eat a baked potato with butter.
Day Three–Soup, fruit (no bananas!), and veggies except for potato. By the third day, you can lose as much as seven pounds. That weight loss can be a big motivator to continue the diet.
Day Four–You must eat three bananas and drink plenty of skim milk on the fourth day. At this point in the diet, your body needs all the calcium and potassium it can get.
Day Five–Soup, 10-20 ounces of beef prepared any way you want, and four or five whole tomatoes.
Day Six–Soup and as much beef and any veggies you want to eat.
Day Seven–Soup, brown rice, veggies, and lots of unsweetened fruit juice.
Other drinks approved by the Sacred Heart Diet are water, black coffee, tea, cranberry juice, and unsweetened fruit juice. Avoid all alcohol and sugary drinks while on the diet.
As for the claims that you can lose “twenty pounds” in a week on this diet, that is simply nonsense. Your body is only capable of losing a certain amount of fat in a given time period. Since a pound of fat is made up of 3,500 calories, you’d have to restrict your caloric intake to less than zero in order to lose twenty pounds, and that is impossible.
Claims of losing “twenty pounds” are just ways to spread the diet around, claims made by idiots who can’t read a scale, or urban legends.
Russian Air Force Diet
This plan was invented in Russia to keep their pilots’ weight down. No claims are made about how many pounds you can lose a week, but you are almost guaranteed not to gain weight (and to lose a few ounces) if you stick to this diet plan religiously.
The Russian Air Force Diet is basically a calorie restriction diet.
Day 1
Drink coffee and skip breakfast. For lunch, have two eggs and a tomato. For dinner, have seven ounces of red meat and a small green salad.
Day 2
Drink coffee and eat one piece of dry toast for breakfast. For lunch, eat seven ounces of red meat and a small green salad. At dinner, eat five more ounces of meat and have one cup of yogurt.
Day 3
Repeat day 2.
Day 4
Repeat day 2.
Day 5
For breakfast, eat five ounces of meat and one cup of carrots. Lunch should consist of seven ounces of broiled fish and one tomato. Dinner is nine ounces of red meat without a green salad this time.
Day 6
Drink coffee for breakfast with plain toast. For lunch have baked chicken and some kind of citrus fruit. Dinner that night is two eggs and a cup of raw carrots.
Day 7
Have coffee and plain toast for breakfast. Lunch should be seven ounces of red meat and a citrus fruit. For dinner you can eat anything you want as long as it is less than 500 calories.
Repeat this diet for another week.
Be careful with the Russian Air Force Diet, as it is a fairly extreme caloric restriction. Before you start any diet, especially “extreme” diets like these, talk to your doctor.
See also:
What Is 3G Wireless?
November 23rd, 2010 |What Is 3G Wireless?
3G Wireless stands for “Third Generation” Wireless technology. 3G is a major upgrade from 2G technology–increased high-speed transmission, greater multimedia access, and global roaming features are just three of the improvements to wireless technology made possible by 3G.
3G Wireless is found on mobile phones and other small devices. It is used to connect the phone to the Internet or other IP-based networks to download and upload data to the Web, view websites, and to make voice and video calls.
How is 3G Wireless Better?
The five biggest changes that 3G brings to wireless are:
- improved audio and video streaming
- support for video-conferencing
- much greater data speed
- IPTV support (this is basically Internet-based television)
- faster web browsing
How Fast is 3G Wireless?
3G wireless networks boast a transfer rate of between 128 and 144 kbps for devices that are on the move. Since 3G technology is almost exclusively used in phones, the transfer rate at speed is an important measure of 3G Wireless’ service. For slower moving devices, the transfer rate is 384 kbps–this is the transfer speed you can expect if you’re walking while using 3G Wireless. The best transfer rates for 3G Wireless devices come when the device is in a fixed position. Then the rate goes well above 2 Mbps.
History of 3G Wireless
The first generation of wireless, known as 1G, started in the early 80′s with rudimentary cellular networks. The second generation of wireless, called 2G, came out about ten years later when some cellular operators adopted one wireless standard and some adopted another.
The third generation of wireless, 3G Wireless, came to be in order to increase bandwidth, support different wireless applications, and to grow the industry. With 3G Wireless, voice and data applications can run concurrently at speeds up to 14.4 Kbps. How did 3G do this?
In order to run multiple different mobile applications at once, 3G had to use what are called “packets” more efficiently and at greater speeds than had been achieved before.
What Stuff Do I Need to Use 3G Wireless?
The main thing you need to use 3G Wireless is a device that is compatible with 3G. If you’ve looked for a new phone or device lately, you’ve probably heard a ton about “3G phones”–the name comes from the fact that this particular phone is capable of running 3G Wireless. Sometimes the name 3G is right there on the phone, as is the case with the iPhone 3G. An easy way to pick a 3G phone out of a lineup is the presence of two cameras–3G allows for video calls, and a camera facing the phone’s user is required for good video phone function. If you see a phone with a camera on both sides, you can bet it is a 3G device.
3G Wireless is not like Wi-Fi, which is available for free at many different places around town. To get on 3G networks, you need to sign up for a 3G service plan to connect to 3G networks. This service plan is also called a “data plan” and is a crucial part of using 3G Wireless.
How Does My Phone Connect to 3G Wireless?
A 3G phone connects to its network through either a SIM card or a 3G data card. If you’re using a cell phone to connect via 3G Wireless, you’re running on a SIM card. Your SIM card should have been provided to you when you purchased the service plan or the phone. Your SIM card allows you to connect to the Internet whenever you are inside a 3G network. The good news is that if you’re not in a 3G network, you can still use 2G and 2.5G function through your service provider. You won’t be able to video chat outside of your 3G network, but you’ll still have wireless capabilities.
How Much Does 3G Wireless Cost?
Because of the complexity of 3G Wireless, using 3G is a bit expensive. If you absolutely need the best wireless connection when you’re on the go, you don’t really have a choice–it’s 3G or nothing. But you’re going to pay for the privilege. Different data plan providers have different costs and service plans, but in general you’re going to be paying for the data you transfer rather than “minutes”. 3G technology is itself “packet-based”, meaning it is easy to track how many packets you’ve sent back and forth through the Internet.
Generally, most data plans charge a flat rate for up to one gigabyte of data transferred, and then a specific rate for each additional megabyte transferred.
Wireless technology is the best way for cell phones to make free voice calls around the world using the Internet. It is also a big step up over 2.5G in terms of video and Internet capability. When you need the best possible wireless connection on-the-go, look for 3G Wireless technology.
See also:
- Wireless Modems
- Wireless Internet Access
- How Does Wireless Internet Work?
- What Is a Kindle?
- How Does Wi-Fi Work?
Are Gun Silencers Illegal?
November 23rd, 2010 |What is used to suppress a discharge, reusable, silent but deadly, and banned in 15 different states? Gun silencers have received a bad rep in certain states, others embrace the weapon during hunting season. Each state has their reasons for banning the use of them, but in most cases you have liberal politicians who like to pass “Feel good” legislation that does nothing to prevent criminal acts. In fact according to the United States Department of Justice (USDOJ), of the millions of legally owned suppressors and assault weapons in the US, only .01% of them will ever be used in a criminal act.
Those who reside in a state where silencers are illegal bay have a different interpretation of an assault weapon as well. An assault weapon to most people is considered a fully or semi automatic weapon. Liberal politicians see assault weapons as more of a genre for guns then a function. For example, pistols that look like a sub-machine guns, pistols with detachable magazines, pistols with threaded barrels, pistols with silencers or a forward pistol grip.
If you carry any of these in the following states you may unintentionally be committing a felony.
- California
- Delaware
- Washington DC
- Hawaii
- Illinois
- Iowa
- Massachusetts
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Mississippi
- New Jersey
- New York
- North Dakota
- Rhode Island
- West Virginia
Most individuals who legally own a suppressive hand gun use them for hunting purposes. Sure video games portray silencers as a bad example and therefore radicals claim silencers should be considered an assault attachment, but the fact is they are effective for hunting. Criminal investigations aren’t impaired when a gun silencer is used, in fact in some cases it even helps identify the criminal. Here is an interesting tid bit, in other countries it is considered rude to fire a weapon without a gun silencer due to the irritating and disruptive noise.
See also:
- Is It Illegal to Drive without Car Insurance?
- Is It Illegal to Drive Barefoot?
- Is It Illegal to Be High?
- Is It Illegal to Sleep in Your Car?
- Is Drinking Absinthe Illegal?
What Is an Electronic Book Reader?
November 22nd, 2010 |What Is an Electronic Book Reader?
Electronic book readers are devices that display electronic books, also known as eBooks. At its most basic, an electronic book reader has an input device, like a keyboard, and a screen to display eBook text.
Files called “eBooks” have been around for decades, though they were little more than books stored as text files on disks. The first electronic book readers were released in 1998, the most popular and best-known of the early models was called SoftBook. Priced near $600 and featuring a leather cover and touchscreen display, the SoftBook and its main competitor Rocket eBook were a little ahead of their time and never caught on.
How Do Electronic Book Readers Work?
Modern “dedicated eBook readers” like Amazon’s Kindle are far more complicated than the rudimentary versions of eBook readers in the past–these basically just displayed text files on a small monitor. Using an electronic book reader is as easy as downloading a file from the Internet–buy a book, download it to your device (either wirelessly or by connecting your device to a computer), then select the file and start reading.
The display is a bit more complicated. Modern eBook readers use a technology called E-Ink. The biggest difference between E-Ink and other display methods is that E-Ink only uses energy once when displaying text–once text is displayed, the text stays on the monitor but doesn’t sap the battery power. E-Ink means you can read your eBook reader longer and save the planet at the same time. Unfortunately, E-Ink is fairly monotone, displaying 16 different shades of . . . gray.
The latest eBook reader technology attempts to incorporate color into the display. Other additions to eBook readers include Bluetooth capability, high-speed Internet access, touchscreens, and other features.
How Much Do Electronic Book Readers Cost?
Let’s take a look at the three most popular eBook readers in today’s market, Amazon’s Kindle, the Barnes and Noble Nook, and Apple’s iPad. Comparing the three devices and taking a look at how much they cost should give you a good idea of the kind of money you can spend on an eBook reader.
The Kindle is at the low-end of this scale, retailing for $189. Different models of Kindle will cost a little bit more–for instance, if you are looking for a large screen for your eBook reader, the Kindle DX’s 9.7 inch screen will be perfect for you. The biggest downside of the DX is that it weighs 1.2 pounds and is not exactly easy to hold up and read like a book. The Dx also costs more than the standard Kindle, retailing for $379.
The Nook comes in just above the Kindle at $199. Barnes and Noble has just announced a new version of the Nook featuring a color display that will retail for about $300. Most people who buy the Nook do so for its excellent 3G coverage, though most users of eBook readers won’t need 3G coverage unless they take a train ride through the mountains or want to take their reader on a camping trip.
Apple’s iPad is the most expensive “eBook reader” on the list, though it is hardly just a device for reading electronic books. The iPad has an LCD color screen, and is really a high end “tablet computer” and not a traditional eBook reader. One downside of using the iPad as an eBook reader is its weight–by far the heaviest eBook reader on the market at one and a half pounds. Also, buying an iPad just to use it as an eBook reader doesn’t make a lot of financial sense. Costing between $500 and $900, the iPad is about four times as expensive as most eBook readers.
What Is the Kindle?
Much of the buzz about electronic book readers these days centers on Amazon’s Kindle. The Kindle is by far the most popular electronic book reader ever made.
The popularity of the Amazon Kindle (released in 2007) is due in part to marketing and in part to the ease with which customers can download books. The Internet has spread a wider net across the world since the late 90s, and it is just plain easier to get eBooks on the Kindle than any other electronic book reader.
Amazon’s Kindle can download books wirelessly. The screen uses new technology to make the text easy to read and extend the battery life of the device. The Kindle currently owns the eBook reader market, though as the number of iPads in use in America increases, that lead is likely to disappear.
Where Do I Find eBooks?
The number and variety of books you have access to depends on which eBook reader you use. Not every eBook store is created equal–it is difficult to say outright which eBook reader device has access to the most titles, since some services count newspapers and magazines, games, and public domain (or free) books with their total and some don’t. According to people much smarter than myself, Amazon’s Kindle store actually has the “best” selection of books, meaning the most varied and the largest.
Coming in at a close second is the Barnes & Noble selection for Nook devices (you can even buy books instantly while browsing in B&N bookstores) with upstart Kobo, bringing in the reader with Borders and Apple taking last place. Apple’s weak book selection is a surprise, considering that the iPad is quickly becoming the most popular eBook reader.
Finding eBooks is as easy as connecting with your device’s eBook store. One exception is downloading eBooks through Apple. To download a book from Apple’s iBook store, you’ll need to download the free iBooks app on any compatible Apple device, such as an iPad, iPhone, or iPod Touch. This makes it the most complicated of eBook download systems, but it’s still pretty easy. On the plus side for the iPad is the fact that they can read iBooks, Nook books, Kindle books, and most other eBook types.
Electronic book readers are becoming popular at a time when paper books, magazines, and newspapers are losing ground. The convergence of these two events could end in two different ways–either eBooks will basically replace paper books, or paper books make a resurgence and the two formats exist in some kind of book harmony. Whatever the case, eBooks have found their way into millions of homes and become second nature to many book lovers. Don’t expect the popularity or prevalence of eBooks and their readers to go away any time soon.
See also:
- Kindle for Mac
- What Is a Sony Portable Reader?
- Kindle Pricing
- Kindle Deals and Discounts
- Good Books Available on the Kindle
Olive Garden Coupons
November 15th, 2010 |Printable Olive Garden Coupons 2011
The Olive Garden was originally called The Green Frog, but it’s now a restaurant chain known as the Olive Garden. General Mills opened the first one in Orlando, Florida in the early 1980s. General Mills had just acquired the restaurant chain Red Lobster and was having success turning that small chain into a huge franchise. Within five years of opening the first Olive Garden restaurant, it was the fastest growing restaurant chain in American history at that time, having opened 150 restaurants in just seven years. Though the company originally intended to branch out into Canada, the brand never caught on north of the border, so most of the 700 Olive Garden restaurants are in the United States.
The Olive Garden concentrates on Italian-American food and decor. The Olive Garden has never been a critical darling, but it is popular with diners. The Olive Garden menu used to be more American-style, with not-so-Italian dishes sprinkled in among the pastas. In the past few years, The Olive Garden has worked to make their menu items more authentic, even pairing up with an actual Italian cooking school to make their menu more like real Italian food. These changes didn’t make the restaurant any less popular, and it seems the Olive Garden will be with us for some time.
Olive Garden is a healthy alternative to casual dining, with many customers returning just for the salad and breadsticks. The Olive Garden serves lunch and dinner at different prices. Lunch portions are smaller than dinner portions, and different printable free Olive Garden coupons exist for both meals.
Olive Garden’s prices are lower than your typical casual dining Italian meal. Entrees average between $12 and $16, and affordable wines start at $5 per glass.
2011 Olive Garden Coupons
Much like its sister restaurant Red Lobster, the Olive Garden has never given away lots of coupons and menu item deals. It’s more common to find a seasonal promotion, like the never ending pasta, in which a customer gets a salad, breadsticks, and as many rounds of pasta as they want.
One great place to find Olive Garden coupons in 2011 is your local newspaper. Olive Garden publishes special coupons several times a year in local newspapers to advertise specials and drum up business.
If your local paper isn’t a good enough source for Olive Garden coupons, check out online third party coupon sites. These sites, like RetailMeNot and Coupons.com, often have special offers you can’t find in-store or in the paper. Right now at RetailMeNot, for instance, there is a coupon good for a free entree with the purchase of an equal or higher value entree. Not all Olive Garden restaurants will honor these coupons, so you should call ahead if you think there may be a problem with the coupon you’re trying to use.
The Olive Garden also offers special deals through their website and even on their Facebook page. “Like” The Olive Garden on Facebook and you can have access to special deals only offered through social networking sites. Website coupons are the same. They usually require you to print out a coupon and present it when you order.
Olive Garden Customer Survey Coupons Are Free Also
If your server at the Olive Garden ever asks you to fill out a survey, do it. Olive Garden usually offers a coupon to people who fill out their customer survey, usually good for $5 or $10 off their next meal. This is an easy coupon to use, as it offers money off any purchase at all, from a simple salad to a meal for an entire family.
The Olive Garden is a successful chain of restaurants that earned its success by offering Italian-style food for less than the local Italian eatery. Their annual promotions like endless pasta take the place of large numbers of customer coupons, though you can find Olive Garden coupons online and in your local paper.
See also:
- Red Lobster Coupons
- Blackeyed Pea Coupons
- Chuck E Cheese Coupons
- Arbys Coupons
- Golden Corral Coupons
- Medifast Coupons
- Burger Street Coupons
Red Lobster Coupons
November 14th, 2010 |Free Red Lobster Coupons
Red Lobster is an American-based chain of seafood restaurants. Red Lobster also operates restaurants in Canada and Japan. Red Lobster is a “casual dining” restaurant, featuring a seafood heavy menu, specialty seafood items, a few non-seafood entrees, appetizers, salads, and desserts.
Red Lobster operates 705 restaurants around the world, though the bulk of them are in North America. Founded in Florida in the 1970s, Red Lobster was quickly bought out by the General Mills corporation which turned a five-restaurant chain into the huge brand Red Lobster is today, having increased the number of chains by more than a hundredfold. The same restaurant group that operates Red Lobster also runs Olive Garden, a mega-popular Italian style casual dining restaurant chain.
People love Red Lobster for their menu specials and promotional deals — names like Shrimp Fest and Never-Ending Lobster tempt seafood lovers with temporarily lower prices on usually expensive seafood items. Luckily for lovers of Red Lobster, there’s almost always some sort of promotion going on, and when you combine these promotional offers with Red Lobster coupons from direct mail, newspaper ads, and third party coupon retailers (not to mention Red Lobster’s own coupon club), you can save a ton of money every year eating the seafood items you love.
Printable Red Lobster Coupons Online 2010 and 2011
The easiest way to save cash at Red Lobster is by joining the Fresh Catch Club. You can join in the restaurant or online. When you join, you’ll get a special deal on your birthday every year (usually a 50% off coupon, though some users report getting even better offers than that) and a monthly email detailing the upcoming promotions at Red Lobster. Every email will come equipped with an exclusive coupon, like a Buy-One-Get-One-Free deal or percentage off a meal.
Joining is free and easy, and though you only get a few coupons a year, there’s no reason not to join if you go to Red Lobster more than once a year. Joining just for the birthday coupon makes sense, considering membership in the Fresh Catch Club is free.
There are also third party coupon websites offering printable coupons for Red Lobster, though there are notoriously few Red Lobster coupons offered every year. You’re not going to find a huge variety of coupons for Red Lobster online, but right now at CouponCabin.com, you can find a printable coupon for as much as 54% off your next meal at Red Lobster. Search around the standard coupon websites for more deals — they are few and far between but they do exist.
Red Lobster doesn’t offer very many coupons because of the nature of their business. They prefer to offer seasonal promotions (at a standard price) than offer coupons for select menu items to their customers. The idea is that prices at Red Lobster are routinely affordable, so there’s just no need for coupons. This doesn’t mean they never offer coupons, only that they’re harder to come by.
Your local newspaper may offer Red Lobster coupons, and you may be surprised to find one coupon a week in some parts of the country. These deals range from free entrees to smaller percent-off deals on certain items. These newspaper promotions are usually the idea of a local franchisee rather than the company as a whole, and usually appear in areas where Red Lobster needs to drum up business.
Saving Money on Red Lobster Online
There are other ways to save cash at Red Lobster besides digging for the ultra-rare coupons. Many people sell their gift cards on eBay or at gift card exchange sites. Do a little searching around and you can find a Red Lobster gift card for sale for less than its value. eBay offers right now for Red Lobster cards range from $20 for a $50 gift card to a person willing to exchange gift cards rather than cash. If you want to save cash on your next delicious seafood meal, you only have to dig around for gift cards or other deals up for bartering.
Red Lobster is a “go to” restaurant for many families, especially those that contain a seafood lover or two. Red Lobster usually offers a great promotional deal on a specific piece of seafood, but if you join their coupon club you can find special deals all year round.
See also:
Chuck E Cheese Coupons
November 13th, 2010 |Printable Chuck E Cheese Coupons 2011
Chuck E Cheese’s is a chain of “family entertainment” locations throughout the country. What started as “Chuck E Cheese’s Pizza Time Theatre” in the 70s in Texas has morphed into the Chuck E Cheese’s we see today, an amalgamation of a pizza joint, a children’s theatre, an arcade, and other “family entertainment” themed features.
Known less for its food (which is fairly ersatz pizza of the kind you might find in an airport in London) than for the “entertainment” aspect in the form of an animatronic show for kids, Chuck E Cheese’s was founded by the inventor of the Atari (Nolan Bushnell) as a hybrid restaurant and miniature theme park. Bushnell’s fondness for all things Disney and his experience in children’s entertainment was a big part of the original design of Chuck E Cheese’s.
There are just under 600 Chuck E Cheese’s restaurants operating in North America, SOuth America, and the Middle East. The concept is the same the world around — draw kids in to play arcade games while the parents pay for overpriced pizza and (in some locations) cheap beer.
Free Chuck E Cheese’s Coupons
Kids love Chuck E Cheese’s, and if you have a child of a certain age you’ve probably had the Chuck E Cheese’s experience. Thankfully, there are a few ways to get discounts at Chuck E Cheese’s restaurants, both through traditional coupons and by joining a a discount club the restaurant offers.
RetailMeNot (a great third party coupon website) has more than a few offers for money saving Chuck E Cheese’s coupons. Right now, you can find coupons for free tokens at the Chuck E Cheese’s arcade, menu combinations (such as a large pizza, four sodas, and twenty tokens for $24.99), and even free menu items. These coupons must be printed out and presented when you order. But be aware that some Chuck E Cheese’s locations won’t honor your printed out coupon. These restaurants are franchises and have the right to not honor any coupon they don’t want to honor.
Chuck E Club
The best way to save money at Chuck E Cheese’s restaurants is to join the Chuck E Club, a discount club that offers special deals to members. When you join, you’ll get an instant special “One-Time” coupon offer, more coupons exclusive to members, birthday party special deals, and you’ll receive a monthly promotional with even more coupons. You’ll also have acess to Chuck E Cheese’s “everyday deal”, an online coupon you can print out right from the Chuck E Cheese’s website.
The Chuck E Club also pays tokens to kids for their grades. Your child will get a document to record their grades on and (when they present it with their report card at the local Chuck E Cheese’s restaurant) they can exchange good grades for free tokens.
Chuck E Cheese’s Coupons in the Newspaper
In areas where Chuck E Cheese’s operates a restaurant, there is almost always a coupon in the Sunday edition of the newspaper. These coupons are usually for a special meal combo or a percentage off a birthday party. Check your local paper for additional Chuck E Cheese’s coupons.
Printable coupons you can find online for Chuck E Cheese’s, like from RetailMeNot as described above, are not always the best way to save money on your next visit. Most of these coupons are “hit or miss” in terms of how many restaurant locations actually honor them. If you visit Chuck E Cheese’s restaurants often enough, joining the Chuck E Club gives you access to the best coupons put out by the company itself — these coupons are generally accepted at all Chuck E Cheese’s locations.
See also:
What Is a Christmas Card Holder?
November 11th, 2010 |What Is a Christmas Card Holder?
If your family is like mine, you get a ton of Christmas cards and family photos during the holiday season. Taking a family photo and sending out a Christmas card is a big part of the Christmas tradition and if my mailbox during the month of December is any indication, Americans are still sending out plenty of Christmas cheer in the form of cards and photos.
A Christmas card holder is exactly what it sounds like–a piece of home decor designed to hold and display Christmas cards and the cheerful holiday photographs they tend to contain. The month of November is the best time to buy a Christmas card holder for the coming holiday season. Stores are stocking Christmas supplies, and many of them are starting off the Christmas season with sales. There are infinitely more styles, colors, and varieties of holiday card holders to choose from just before Christmas.
The History of Christmas Card Holders
Once upon a time, Christmas card holders were all homemade. People built their own card holding device to display their Christmas cards. I remember my great-grandmother hanging twine over her fireplace and hanging Christmas cards from it with paper clips painted red and green. I’m sure hers wasn’t the only house in the neighborhood with some sort of homemade card display.
In the 50s, as America prospered and the meaning of Christmas became “buy buy buy”, retailers realized that they could make money selling all things Christmas. The first Christmas card holders were delivered to homes in kits for home decoration and setup. Eventually, Christmas card holders already assembled and decorated became available, and it is now extremely common to find a Christmas card holder in any American home you peek into.
The fun of these card holders is that displaying your cards makes the arrival of each card an event. As each card comes in, you can pick where to display it, and add it to your collection in full view of anyone who enters your home.
Since lots of families send photos with their cards, holiday photo holders are also great ways to show off nieces, nephews, grandchildren, and pets.
What Do Christmas Card Holders Look Like?
The best thing about Christmas card holders is the variety of styles. Your holder could be small–able to display just a few precious family Christmas cards, or it may be built to hold and display dozens of cards at once. They can be stand-alone contraptions made of wire and reaching five or six feet of height, or they could be little more than decorated baskets to hold greeting cards.
You’re likely to see lots of “table topper” holders, many in the shape of “trees”, each branch of which can hold one or two cards at a time. They’re often decorated in Christmas colors or with holiday decorations. Becoming more common are the wall-mounted card holders, with the idea being that after the holidays you can use it to hold grocery lists, reminders, or anything you need quick access to.
Though you still see plenty of Christmas card holders and Christmas stationary for sale, it seems like people don’t quite send cards and letters as often as they used to. Then again, the popularity of image-altering software like Photoshop and the personalization afforded people by their computers, holiday cards have gotten a lot more personal and a lot more time consuming. When someone sends you a card these days, you know they’ve spent a lot of effort on it. Why not display these special greetings for the world to see?
How Much Do Christmas Card Holders Cost?
Here’s two examples currently on sale at Amazon–a 5-foot wire Christmas Photo and Card Holder for $49.99 and (at the other end of the spectrum) Hallmark’s Christmas Card Holder in the shape of a Christmas tree that retails for $14.95. This last item is not just available at Amazon–you’ll find it at different retail settings this season, like Wal-Mart and CVS stores.
you can spend anywhere from a few bucks to well into the hundreds of dollars depending on the size and complexity of the Christmas card holder that you’re after. Lots of people just want a place to store their Christmas cards, not necessarily a display. These often take the form of an “inbox” or special “mailbox” kept in the home. If the point is to store or perhaps display your Christmas cards (rather than bury them at the bottom of the junk drawer) it doesn’t really matter what style you buy.
See also:
- What Is Christmas Tree Flocking?
- Download Free Christmas Music
- Christmas Carol Movies
- Top Christmas Decorations
- Traditional Holiday Books for Kids
What Is Buy to Let Home Insurance?
November 10th, 2010 |What Is Buy to Let Home Insurance?
Buy to let home insurance is sometimes called “landlord insurance.” It’s a crucial piece of insurance for any property investor planning on renting out their property. Buy to let home insurance provides extra insurance protection for house owners planning to rent their property–coverage that isn’t normally offered with regular homeowner’s insurance coverage.
What Does Buy to Let Home Insurance Do?
Buy to let home insurance is designed to protect your investment in the event of a tragedy or destructive event that can lead to lost money. Different types of buy to let insurance do different things, but for the most part, this type of insurance is designed to cover you in case of damage caused by tenants or lost income due to unpaid rent. Your attorney’s fees and other costs associated with unpaid rent can be covered by but to let home insurance.
Every landlord insurance policy will be different, so it is important to do your research to find the right buy to let insurance policy for your needs. Your regular homeowner’s insurance policy may assist you with property damage or damage caused by tenant neglect, but for the most part you’ll need to purchase landlord’s insurance to get full coverage. Some buy to let home insurance policies also offer additional flood coverage or protection against “acts of God” or natural disasters. Always read the fine print to be sure potential disasters in your area are protected. For instance, if you live near the ocean, you may need hurricane or flood insurance. Live in California? Make sure your landlord’s insurance covers mudslides and earthquakes.
Market Value and Landlord’s Insurance
Before you acquire buy to let home insurance, you’ll need to have a professional
home evaluation to determine the current market value of your property. This is because the insurance company you’re buying insurance from has to know the exact property value to determine your monthly premium. Under insuring your investment property is as bad for you as it is for the insurance company — if you devalue your property, you could end up paying for damages out of your pocket, which pretty much cancels out any benefit you get from acquiring landlord’s insurance.
Lost Rental Income and Buy to Let Home Insurance
Investing in a buy to let home insurance policy is ideal for protecting you from lost rental income. If you count on your rental property for month-to-month cash income, you should protect your investment with landlord’s insurance. If a problem arises with your tenant and you lose your rental income, or if rent is way overdue and you’ve made no arrangements with the tenant, you can continue receiving your rental revenue while you deal with the tenant issue and any rehabilitation the property needs between tenants.
Who Needs Landlord’s Insurance?
Not every landlord will need rental insurance. Landlords with substantial amounts of money invested in rental properties, or those who depend on the monthly income from tenants, should have landlord’s buy to let home insurance. Another category of landlord that needs this type of insurance is any property owner who is leasing a furnished property.
If your rental premises are furnished, you need to find a buy to let home insurance policy that covers home articles as well as the property itself. Not every buy to let policy is created equal, so make sure all personal property, floors, kitchen appliances, gardening appliances, carports, storage sheds, and swimming pools or hot tubs are covered. Be aware, though, that buy to let home insurance does not cover the personal items of renters.
Injuries and Buy to Let Home Insurance
Buy to let insurance does provide landlords with liability insurance protection in case their tenants or their tenants’ guests are injured on the rental property. Let’s face it, America is addicted to litigation, and believe it or not, landlords can be sued by their own tenants for injuries that have nothing to do with the property owner. Buy to let home insurance policies help pay legal fees in case a renter sues you, and more than that, landlord’s insurance pays legal fees in any situation where the landlord has to go to court with a property renter.
Choosing a Landlord’s Insurance Policy
Make sure the policy you’re about to buy covers you for all possible disasters. Match your policy to the area where your rental property is. If you don’t need protection from volcanoes, don’t get suckered in to a policy that covers you in case of magma. The point is — read the fine print.
Your buy to let home insurance liability policy should be enough to cover potential expenses of health care if renters are injured. Though it is rare, landlords have been sued for injuries to renters.
Landlord’s insurance should also be stout enough to cover the financial impact of lost rent or damage to the property in question. Remember that you may be sued by a tenant, and the tenant may win. Make sure your landlord’s insurance policy is enough to cover in case of litigation.
Remember that a single incident with a renter or a single lawsuit can jeopardize an investment property, and rather than selling your property to pay legal fees or judgements to renters, your landlord’s insurance could keep your investment property afloat.
Where to Find Landlord’s Insurance
A great source for buy to let home insurance information is the Landlord Association. The provide details on different insurance policy offerings around the country, and landlords can also get access to legal forms, learn legal guidelines for landlord’s insurance, and other information associated with buy to let home insurance.
Buy to let home insurance policies are an inexpensive way to give landlord’s security against a wave of potential legal and financial issues. With one policy, you can cover your real estate investment from any number of possible problems. With landlord’s insurance, you and your tenants are protected in case of legal problems.
See also:
- Is It Illegal to Drive without Car Insurance?
- What Is Backpacker Travel Insurance?
- How Much Does Health Insurance Cost?
- How Much Does Annual Travel Insurance Cost?
- How Much Does Motorcycle Insurance Cost?
What Is a Perforated Bowel?
November 9th, 2010 |What Is a Perforated Bowel?
A perforated bowel is a medical condition in which a hole or gap forms in the wall of any part of the gastro-intestinal system. That system is made up of the small intestine, large intestine, and stomach. These holes form for various reasons, and lead to food or stools passing into the abdomen, resulting in inflammation and infection. Perforated bowel complications can cause infection in the blood, internal bleeding, and other problems that ultimately lead to death if left untreated. Timely treatment is required to avoid the potentially life-threatening consequences of a perforated bowel.
What Causes a Perforated Bowel?
There are two major chronic conditions that can cause a perforated bowel, and these two conditions make up a big chunk of incidences of perforated bowel in America.
Crohn’s disease causes serious inflammation throughout the body’s intestines and can also cause intestinal blockages. People with Crohn’s disease are at the highest risk for perforated bowel.
The other chronic disease that can lead to perforated bowel is Diverticulitis. This is a condition in which the colon is covered in tiny pouches of organ tissue. These pouches are highly susceptible to infection, and if these infections aren’t removed and the body treated, you can have blockages in the colon which leads to a perforated bowel. Both Diverticulitis and Crohn’s disease are serious conditions which require treatment by a doctor.
Of course, any intestinal blockage will lead to a perforated bowel if left untreated. In an intestinal blockage, the gastro-intestinal system is unable to eliminate the body’s waste products, causing the bowel to rupture. Intestinal blockages occur for different reasons, such as physical “blockage” from a tumor or hernia, or even from muscle spasms in the lower abdomen that prevent the intestines from working properly.
One final cause of perforated bowel — injury. An injury or trauma to the abdomen can cause perforation of the bowel. Injuries like compression or stabbing can damage the bowel or intestines and cause a blockage.
Symptoms of Perforated Bowel
Though every patient will experience different sets of symptoms with perforated bowel, these are the most common. Some of these symptoms are serious enough to require medical care even if a perforated bowel isn’t the cause. Always contact a doctor if you’re concerned about your symptoms.
Pain in the abdomen — Severe pain in the abdomen could be a sign of a perforated bowel. Unfortunately, so can dull pain. That’s why simple pain in the abdomen is not enough to diagnose a perforated bowel. Still, pain is the most common symptom in patients with perforated bowels, so this pain could be the first sign of trouble, especially if there was a recent trauma to the abdomen.
Abdominal swelling — Painful swelling in the abdomen along with a constant feeling of fullness is another common symptom of perforated bowel. Swelling in the abdomen is uncommon, so this symptom usually alerts doctors to the presence of a bowel perforation.
Fever — High fevers (102 degrees F or above) when accompanied by chills are another sign of perforated bowel, especially in patients that have abdominal pain or swelling. The body’s temperature rises in response to infection.
Nausea — Abdominal pain accompanied by vomiting and nausea (also in conjunction with a feeling of fullness and/or a fever) is a tell-tale symptom set for perforated bowel.
Change in bowel movements — Patients with perforated bowel are likely to be constipated or experiencing severe diarrhea. There will likely be blood in stools or a change in the color of the stools. This is due to the intestinal blockage that caused the perforated bowel to begin with.
Treatment for Perforated Bowel Recovery
A perforated bowel is a serious condition. The only cure for perforated bowel is surgery, and this surgery should happen as quickly as possible. It isn’t possible to treat perforated bowel with medication, and since a perforated bowel is life-threatening, you must see a surgeon as soon as possible.
Perforated Bowel Surgery
A perforated bowel surgery is made up of two parts. First, the surgeon must clean the abdomen. A bowel perforation empties infectious material into the abdomen that must be removed. The second part of a perforated bowel surgery is repairing the perforation itself. Some bowel perforations are tiny, others rather large. The length of the surgery and the prognosis of the patient depends greatly on the size and complexity of the perforation.
Complications of a Perforated Bowel
The biggest possible complication from a perforated bowel is the spread of infection and possibility for re-occurrence of the perforated bowel or intestinal blockage. This can occur even after surgery and treatment are finished, and usually occurs with a larger or more complicated perforated bowel. To counteract this potential for spreading infection, patients who undergo perforated bowel surgery will take a heavy course of antibiotics after the surgery to prevent the infection coming back.
During the surgery, it is common for surgeons to remove much of the intestines, especially in more complex cases. In cases where doctors remove large sections of the intestine, recovery from a perforated bowel can take months.
If surgeons removed enough of the intestine to cause potential trouble in the future, they may have to use colostomy on the patient, especially if the infection is very wide spread. Colostomy involves the surgeon re-routing the intestinal system so that a patient’s waste is excreted into a bag they wear outside the body. If colostomy is avoidable, surgeons will avoid it, as colostomy is a huge burden on the patient and usually can not be undone.
Preventing Perforated Bowel
Perforated bowel is preventable, even in cases where perforated bowel is caused by another chronic health condition.
If a patient is diagnosed with Crohn’s disease or Diverticulitis, treatment is required within a short time window. Medication and other treatments exist to prevent bowel perforations in patients with these conditions. Besides drugs, patients can maintain good bowel health by eating food that is high in fiber, drinking lots of water, and getting regular exercise.
See also:
- Depressions Symptoms and Treatment
- Health Insurance Cost
- Anxiety Disorder Vs. Panic Disorder
- Overactive Bladder Causes
- Health Insurance Tips
How to Stop Biting Your Fingernails
November 8th, 2010 |How to Stop Biting Your Fingernails
Nail biting is a habit born out of anxiety. We’re not talking about the kind of heart-pounding, gut-wrenching, wake-up-at-3-AM type of anxiety that requires medication and counseling — for the most part, nail biters’ anxiety is reduced to little things. Everyday anxiety that we all have when speaking in public or making a difficult decision.
As a fingernail biter myself, I know the ugly side of nail biting. I’ve had all sorts of symptoms caused by nail biting, from upset stomach to infected nail beds. Fighting the urge to bite your nails is difficult for so many reasons.
Why We Bite Our Nails
Nail biting can be an embarrassing, painful, and annoying habit. But most of us don’t even realize when we’re doing it.
It’s obvious that most people bite their nails as a reaction to stress, anxiety, or some other heady emotion. I know that I’ve discovered biting my nails when I have to think hard — sometimes even biting my nails over what to order on an unfamiliar menu or which exit to take on the highway.
Some people’s nail biting habit is more serious. If your nail biting is seriously affecting your life, you may need professional help to quit. Believe it or not, some people’s simple act of nail biting is actually considered a mild form of obssessive-compulsive disorder. If you find yourself having particular trouble quitting, or if nail biting has negatively affected your life in the past and you haven’t been able to quit, you may consider seeking help from a psychologist or psychiatrist.
Different theories exist about why we bite our nails. To some counselors, it is “internalized anger”. These people say that you rarely see Type A personalities or angry people with nail biting problems, as they allow themselves to express their anger. This theory, like all theories on nail biting, is controversial.
The truth is we don’t know one specific reason why we bite our nails. Each person’s road to nail biting passes through different towns. “Why” you bite your nails isn’t important. If it is time to quit biting your nails, you know it.
How can nail biting be hazardous to our health?
Potential Health Effects of Nail Biting
Red & Sore Fingers — Biting your nails leads to small puncture marks all around the nail bed, as well as torn cuticles and hang nails. Nail biters always have some sort of sore on their fingers from biting and pulling the nails away. This can also lead to cuticle bleeding, which itself leads to infections in the nail bed. Believe it or not, your nail bed is a very sensitive area, so constantly exposing it to the bacteria in your mouth and on your hand is a really bad idea.
Infections — You’d be surprised how easy it is to get a bacterial infection in your nail bed and your mouth. When the skin in your cuticle or nail bed is broken, the bacteria in your mouth have an easy way in. Think your hands are dirty? You ought to see what lives in your mouth.
These infections aren’t limited to the nail bed, either. Constantly biting your nails leads to teeth and other dental problems as well. People who bite their nails their whole lives are far more likely to develop diseases of the gums, this proven by research conducted at the Mayo Clinic. Your teeth can become damaged from wear and tear, leading to cavities and even broken teeth.
Nail Biting and Germs — How easy is it for germs to move from the mouth to the hand when you spend part of the day stuffing your fingers in your mouth? Our hands come into contact with terrible things over the course of a day, and the bacteria that live in the mouth are none too pleasant either.
The final impact of nail biting is psychological. We hate that we bite our nails and we get anxious over our inability to stop. If you could quit biting your nails, you’d have much less anxiety to live with — which in turn lessens your need to bite your nails.
How to Quit Biting Your Nails
1. Make an Effort
As with any bad habit, stopping your nail biting problem means you’ll have to actually put some effort into quitting. When you notice that you’re biting your nails, force yourself to stop. For some people, this is enough to help them quit. These are the nail biters who do it “absent-mindedly” and have some semblance of self control.
2. Make People Tell You When You’re Biting
Tell your close friends, family, co-workers, or whomever you see most of the time to give you a little warning when they see you nail biting. This is a great way to become conscious of how often you bite your nails.
3. Make Biting Your Nails . . . Nasty
There are a few different products available that help you quit biting your nails by making your fingernails taste bad. The idea is to convince you not to bite your nails by turning the experience negative.
The drug store stocks different products for this. Most of them are clear and colorless liquids with a bitter (but non toxic) taste such as bitter apple. You’ll not only hate the experience, but you can never say again that you weren’t conscious of your decision to bite your nails.
4. Polish Your Nails
The idea behind this step is to make your nails so pretty that you’d “hate to bite them and ruin them.” Taking time to give yourself a manicure may change the way you think about your nails and hands and further convince you to stop the nail biting habit.
If you’d rather not polish your own nails, or if you’re a guy, you could instead treat yourself to a professional manicure in a last-ditch effort to convince yourself to not bite your nails. Men, don’t be afraid — men have been getting manicures for years now, and strong, clear-coated nails are as much a part of the business world as laser-whitened teeth.
5. Wear gloves.
When all else fails, you may need to block yourself from biting your nails by wearing gloves. People may look at you funny, especially if it isn’t “glove season”, but I’ve had friends who were nurses who swear that once they got in the habit of wearing latex gloves all day at work, their nail biting disappeared. Give it a try.
If you think your nail biting habit is serious, or if you’ve started to have health problems you think are due to nail biting, contact your doctor for help giving up the habit.
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What Is Wheat Germ?
November 5th, 2010 |What Is Wheat Germ?
Wheat germ is huge in the “natural foods” and health food market. Every health food store worth its salt substitute stocks endless products that have wheat germ as an ingredient. Wheat germ is considered one of the most nutritional natural foods in the world. Doctors tell us that wheat germ contains 23 different nutrients, meaning that it contains more nutrients per ounce than any other vegetable or grain.
What Nutrients Does Wheat Germ Contain?
Wheat germ is a “complete protein“, meaning it contains all nine essential amino acids that your body uses to create protein. As such, it is an important part of a vegetarian, vegan, or even “meat light” diet. Here’s a complete list of the known nutrients in wheat germ:
- Protein
- Vitamin A
- Vitamin C
- Vitamin D
- Vitamin E
- Vitamin K
- Thiamin
- Riboflavin
- Niacin
- Vitamin B6
- Folate
- Vitamin B12
- Pantothenic Acid
- Choline
- Betaine
- Calcium
- Iron
- Magnesium
- Phosphorus
- Potassium
- Sodium
- Zinc
- Copper
- Manganese
- Selenium
Where Does Wheat Germ Come From?
Wheat germ comes from a kernel of wheat. The “germ” refers to the interior part of the kernel and is a tiny piece of a piece of wheat. A single wheat germ makes up only about two percent of the wheat kernel itself. That word “germ” that puts people off? It is short for “germination”, implying that the wheat germ is the reproductive part of the kernel that germinates and forms the grassy part of wheat. Essentially, wheat germ is wheat before it is born.
Wheat Germ Benefits
Because wheat germ is rich in protein, it is a huge source of protein for people who don’t have access to, or refuse to eat, animal proteins. Over a quarter of a single piece of wheat germ is pure protein — this is more protein per ounce than almost any meat product. Our bodies need protein for various things (repairing tissue damage, passing nutrients and minerals into our cells, etc) and wheat germ is a healthy and easy to grow source of protein.
Besides protein, there are seemingly endless nutrient benefits from wheat germ — there is more potassium and iron in wheat germ than in any other food on the planet. Other essential nutrients that wheat germ contains includes riboflavin, calcium, zinc, magnesium and vitamins A, B1 and B3. Those last two — vitamins B1 and B3, are extremely important in keeping your energy up, and maintaining your organ systems and healthy brain function. Wheat germ is muscle and brain food.
Vitamin E in Wheat Germ
The more we learn about Vitamin E, the more essential it seems. We know now that Vitamin E is the body’s most important antioxidant ingredient — antioxidants help prevent cancer and other diseases, slow down the aging process, and can prevent heart disease and stroke. Vitamin E also reduces the severity of blood clots and is a required nutrient for your body’s immune system to function.
Athletes use wheat germ primarily for protein and Vitamin E — it is much easier to maintain your athletic condition if you take in enough Vitamin E. Because Vitamin E also improves the performance of the heart, more red blood cells make their way into your muscles, improving your muscle strength and elasticity. Body builders and people who want to add muscle usually use wheat germ to “bulk up” and then to maintain the bulkiness once it has been achieved. Far from just a hippie health food, wheat germ is also the driving force behind many massively muscular bodies.
Where Can I Find Wheat Germ?
It is getting easier and easier to find wheat germ in the places you’d normally shop, though you can always find it in health food and nutritional stores if you’re having trouble finding it at the grocery store. You can buy wheat germ “toasted” or “fresh” — the main difference being that the toasted form is a little tastier, but also a little less nutritious by virtue of being slightly “cooked.” If you don’t want to jump right in to raw wheat germ, you can find food products that contain it that are a bit easier on the stomach. Many breakfast cereals are made with wheat germ, as well as various kinds of bread, grains, and flour.
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What Is a Workout Playlist?
November 4th, 2010 |What Is a Workout Playlist?
A workout playlist is exactly what it sounds like — a list of music ideal for the gym. Working out is hard, but by playing music that gets you going, music that you love, and tunes that inspire you to push your workout to the next level.
So what goes into an ideal workout playlist?
Good Dance Music for Working Out
Ever notice that those ultra-cheery workout mavens on TV are always listening to some generic thumping dance music? Lots of bass and very little in the way of music? They use that music because it appeals to a larger number of audience members and because it sets a good “pace” for a workout. Here are good pieces of dance music to power your workout. These are faster tunes than most, at around 120 beats per minute each, so they’re best for faster workouts, or warming up with cardio.
1. Axwell, Bob Sinclair & Ron Carroll – What A Wonderful World
2. Metric – Help I’m Alive
3. Forever the Sickest Kids – Whoa Oh! (Me vs. Everyone)
4. Theory of a Deadman – Hate My Life
5. Chris Lake & Nastala – If You Knew (Feed Me Remix)
6. Hyper Crush – Keep Up
7. Metallica – Cyanide (dance mix feat. Danger Mouse)
8. Basshunter – Now You’re Gone
9. Trapt – Contagious
10. Booty Luv – Say It
Good Pop Songs for Working Out
Just because the exercise programs on TV use “dance music” doesn’t mean you have to. Your favorite pop songs can be just as inspirational as the latest piece of dance music. Here are some good classic pop songs to plug into your next workout playlist. These songs are all about 80 or 90 beats per minute, which should match most workout plans.
1. Jamie Foxx & Justin Timberlake – Winner
2. Katrina and the Waves – I’m Walking on Sunshine
3. Avril Lavigne – Girlfriend
4. Beastie Boys – Sabotage
5. Trina – Single Again
6. The Smiths – Ask
7. Whitesnake – Here I Go Again
8. Grizzly Bear – Two Weeks
9. Rihanna – Rude Boy
10. Freddy “Boom Boom” Cannon – Palisades Park
Good Hip-Hop Songs for Working Out
It is no surprise that lots of people use hip hop or rap music to power their workout. Using hip hop tunes in your workout combines the best of the pop music and dance music worlds. You get a good loud beat, a little melody, and lots of rhythm. Here are the best hip hop songs for your workout playlist. These songs move from pretty fast (Outkast) to pretty slow, so make sure and tailor your hip hop workout playlist to the pace of your personal workout plan.
1. Outkast – B.O.B.
2. Kanye West – Stronger
3. Luke – I Wanna Rock
4. Onyx – Slam
5. 50 Cent – In Da Club
6. Crime Mob – Knuck If Ya Buck
7. Eminem – Lose Yourself
8. Daddy Yankee – Gasolina
9. House of Pain – Jump Around
10. A Tribe Called Quest – Scenario
Whatever music you decide to use, make sure it is inspirational, motivational, and easy to ignore. The point of your workout is to get in shape and build muscle mass, not to play rock critic. Put these tunes on your iPod, plug in your headphones, and rock your way into an amazing body.
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What Is Gluten?
November 3rd, 2010 |What Is Gluten?
Gluten is a kind of special protein molecule that is really common in our food supply — grains like rye, wheat, and barley are full of gluten. Because of this, gluten is found in almost every variety of bread, cereal, or grain — in fact, most types of bread contain gluten. The exceptions to the gluten rule are wild rice, corn, buckwheat, millet, amaranth, quinoa, teff, soybeans, oats, and sunflower seeds. Breads or products made from these grains contain no gluten.
When Is Gluten “Bad?”
So what’s the big deal about gluten, anyway? People who avoid gluten fall in two camps — they are either required to avoid gluten due to an allergy (Celiac disease) or because they believe gluten causes health problems. People who avoid gluten say that gluten protein causes problems in the digestive system such as intestinal ulcers and lesions, gas, bloating, diarrhea, constipation, and randomized abdominal pain. Still other problems that are blamed on gluten — weight loss, chronic fatigue, anemia, and osteoporosis.
Sounds pretty serious — and for people with immune problems or allergies to gluten, it can be very serious. So what is a gluten-sensitive person to do?
How Do You Avoid Gluten?
The easiest way to avoid gluten is to not eat foods that contain it, or to eat very little of them.
It is possible to remove gluten from wheat flour — this process produces wheat starch rather than flour, and it is mostly gluten-free. Doctors say “mostly” because it simply isn’t possible to get rid of all of the gluten in wheat flour.
Unfortunately for people trying to avoid gluten, the FDA requires only a “majority” of the gluten to be removed in order for a product to be labeled “gluten-free.” This causes problems for people looking to avoid gluten, and is a big reason why many gluten-free types tend to avoid gluten-containing grains altogether.
What Is Gluten Good For?
Gluten gets a bad rap, but it can be a good thing.
Gluten is the ingredient that makes bread chewy and elastic — bread without gluten loses its chewy texture. When you remove gluten, bread dough becomes tacky and sticky, making bread that is dense, hard, and unpleasant.
Gluten does other things — providing nutrients, protein, and allowing bread to rise before it bakes. Gluten does this by trapping certain gases in the bread dough. Gluten also becomes firm when it cooks and (when combined with starch) gives the bread its typical “bread shape”. Bread without gluten is usually as hard on the eyes as it is on the teeth.
A final “plus” in gluten’s corner is its ability to absorb — the bread you eat with your pasta can soak up the tomato sauce because of gluten. This absorbent and tender quality of gluten is why it is often used as a meat substitute in vegetarian or vegan meals.
Having said all that, one feature of gluten’s effect on bread is not so good. Gluten is primarily responsible for bread going stale.
What Is Celiac Disease? What Are Celiacs? Gluten Intolerance Symptoms
Celiacs are people who suffer from Celiac disease. Celiac disease makes digesting gluten nearly impossible, causing gastrointestinal problems and making life very uncomfortable.
People with celiac disease are required to eat only foods that don’t have any gluten — otherwise, their illness will “flare up” and cause problems. When it is properly treated, celiac disease causes almost no problems, and avoiding gluten (for some people) is a health choice rather than a choice made to conquer an illness. People who avoid gluten find it easier to lose weight and maintain a healthy metabolism. You don’t have to be a Celiac to avoid gluten.
What Are the Risks of Celiac Disease?
When it isn’t properly treated, Celiac disease can in fact be fatal. The big problem with avoiding gluten is that many foods are grown or made near foods that do contain gluten, which can cause cross-contamination problems. Celiacs know to eat grains that do not contain gluten (like oats and teff) but these grains are in such close contact with gluten that they can often cause Celiac flare ups.
Of special interest are Celiacs who are also Catholic — Communion wafers are full of wheat, which is the big gluten no-no. Since the Communion wafers are an important part of Catholic ritual, Celiacs often have to find another way to participate in worship.
Gluten is an important nutrient to many people, and it also causes digestive problems for much of the population. Any food product that is both a good thing and a bad thing is going to be controversial. If you think you have a problem with gluten, contact your doctor to decide on a course of treatment.
See Also:
- Gluten Free Recipes
- Gluten Free Diet
- Best Gluten Free Products
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- Organic Baby Food
How Much Water Should I Drink Daily?
November 2nd, 2010 |How Much Water Should I Drink Daily?
How much water should I be drinking? Not even our vast knowledge of the human body helps us out here — we mapped the human genome but we still don’t know exactly how much water a person “should” drink every day. Different studies release different numbers, and some doctors now think that each person’s essential water needs are different. So how much water should we be drinking? Let’s look at a few different takes.
What Does Water Do For Us?
So you know you need water but you don’t know why. Remember that water in some form makes up about 60 percent of your body weight. That means water is literally the most plentiful thing in your body. Each and every organ system in your body requires water to function. Water in your cells does a hundred different jobs at once — it can flush out
toxins from your liver, provide the moist environment needed in your ear tissues, and brings nutrients back and forth between the cells. Water is the most important part of your body.
That’s why it is important to take in enough water. A lack of water will quickly lead to dehydration and eventually death. Dehydration occurs more often than people think — according to a recent study at Cornell, every time you feel thirst what you are feeling is the beginnings of dehydration. Without water, a human won’t survive more than a couple of days, though we can go without food for as long as a few weeks. When your body doesn’t have the water it needs to function, your first symptom is thirst, then a lack of energy and an overall feeling of tiredness. These symptoms worsen hour by hour until eventually the organ systems can’t function and shut down.
How Do We Lose Water?
People “lose” water in different ways, from urinating to breathing. That’s right, even breathing causes you to dehydrate a little. That’s why people who talk a lot at work (teachers, telemarketers, or people making business presentations) often have to “over hydrate”. Every day you lose water in sweat, bowel movements, and countless other functions. That’s why your body’s water supply has to be bolstered throughout the day. (See How to Lose Water Weight for more information.)
Drinking pure water isn’t the only way you rehydrate your body — any food or drink that contains water will hydrate your body. Water in juices, teas, and even sodas and coffee acts as a hydration agent, though ingredients in those foods are often dehydrators, so the total effect is neutral. Still, you don’t have to down gallons of water a day to replenish your water supply.
What Is the Replacement Method?
One of the most popular theories on the amount of water we should be drinking is called the “Replacement Method” or “Replacement Approach.” This method says that the human body should take in the amount that it puts out in urine. Since we just talked about the fact that urine is not the only way water leaves the body, you know this method is suspect. Still — many people live and die by the Replacement Method and it seems to work.
To figure out how much water you need to take in with the Replacement Approach, just consider your age. If you’re 16 or older, the Replacement Method says you should be drinking two liters of water a day — that is a little more than eight cups. That number is based on the estimated amount of fluid loss through urine. For people under the age of 16, the number is one and a half liters, though people are quick to point out that young children have different water needs entirely.
According to the Mayo Clinic, the average urine output for adults is about 1.5 liters (a little over 6 cups) a day. We lose about one liter (4 cups give or take) of water a day through breathing, sweating and bowel movements. Since you eat about 1/5th of your water intake in your diet, consuming about two liters of water or other beverages a day is plenty to replace your lost fluids.
Though the science behind the Replacement Approach is not perfect, their recommendation seems to check out when compared to other water intake theories.
What About “Eight Glasses a Day?”
It is especially interesting that the Replacement Method suggests a little over eight cups of water a day because the most common theory about water intake suggests eight cups as well.
We’ve all heard it — doctors repeat it over and over and most people seem to think it is the Gospel truth — “Eight 8-ounce glasses of water a day.”
Sometimes called the 8 by 8 rule (eight glasses with at least eight ounces of water a day) , you may as well just make sure you drink eight glasses of liquid a day. Though it is counter intuitive, all fluid intake works to rehydrate your body, even sodas and sugary drinks.
The 8 by 8 rule isn’t based on any real science, but it seems to be plenty of water for most people to keep their body hydrated, and based on the funny math we saw in the Replacement Method, it seems like enough liquid to replace what we lose in a day.
What Is the Gender Method?
There’s a third theory of water intake that recommends a different amount of water for males and females. This method is supported by the Institute of Medicine, and suggests that men should consume thirteen cups of liquid a day, while women can keep it to about nine glasses a day.
This is surprising because it is a higher amount of water than usually recommended by doctors or conventional wisdom. The things is — you almost can’t drink too much water. If you choose to drink ten glasses of liquid a day, good for you. If you want to just drink eight, you’re probably doing fine. The key is to replace the liquids you lose and to listen to what your body is telling you.
If you aren’t getting enough water, you’ll know. Stick to about eight glasses of liquid a day and stop worrying about drinking enough water.
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