Monthly Archives: October 2015

Follow These Easy Steps Before Renovating Your Bathroom

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Credit – Pixabay

Renovating the bathroom can be quite a troubling process indeed. Quite often, the bathroom can be relegated when it comes to decorating the home. But why shouldn’t it get the same level of care and attention when you’re planning your interiors? After all, the bathroom has the rather thankless task of overseeing all your daily habits, so it’s only fair to compensate it, right? Generally speaking, though, it’s also the smallest room in the house. So, finding a way to make it shine can be difficult. Here are some of my ideas to get your bathroom shining.

Space and Storage

Since size is often an issue when it comes to the bathroom, you could be forgiven for just cramming in all of the things you need. Shower, toilet, sink. What else is there? If that’s what you think, you’d be wrong. The bathroom is often the place where we keep some of our most personal belongings. It proudly homes the medicine cabinet and the cleaning products. For that reason, you’re going to have to give some serious thinking to storage solutions.

If you’re not blessed by a spacious, luxury bathroom, you may need to compromise. The shower and bath can be easily combined to save space. The medicine cabinet can hang over the sink. If you do have the room, it’s worth putting a proper storage cabinet in there to house all your supplies. It’s better than having them scattered all around the windowsill. If a lot of space is something you’re graced with, make use of it. Consider putting a vanity unit in there for your personal grooming, though be prepared for the inevitable queue every morning.

Accessories

Just like any other room in the house, your bathroom shouldn’t go without its share of decoration. Besides, this is the room you’ve set aside for relaxation – make it feel that way. There is a whole host of items you can buy to fully kit out your bathroom. Think heated towel rails, glass soap dishes and toilet roll holders.

It’s probably wise to lay down a bath mat, too, so you don’t drench the floor every time you get out the tub. Water damage can wreak havoc on your flooring, so take the necessary precautions.

Pipework

While you’re in the habit of doing out your bathroom, you should check out your pipework to make sure there are no problems. With so much plumbing, it’s only natural that eventually you’re going to run into trouble. Consider hiring a leak detection company to make sure everything is in order. You don’t want to leave any problems festering for too long, as water damage can have dramatic repercussions on your home.

The same goes for all plumbing and electrical work. Leave it to the professionals. There are things around the house you should never take care of yourself unless you’re fully qualified. These are two of them.

I hope you learn to give your bathroom the makeover it deserves. Follow these tips and you’ll have a room to be proud of, not just one to take care of your business.

Great Reasons To Play Mobile Bingo

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You would be hard pressed to find someone nowadays that does not have a smartphone or mobile.  Because of this increase in powerful, compact technology and gadgets, there has been an increase in the last decade of the number of mobile gambling and especially relevant to this article, mobile bingo sites and applications.  It is not really very difficult to see why they are so popular.  For the same fun, excitement and chance of winning a cash prize as bingo in a bingo hall, you can get get from a device that fits in the palm of your hands.  However, if you have still not given mobile bingo a chance, here are 4 great reasons why you should consider playing today.

Designed With Busy People In Mind

Mobile games, including mobile bingo, were designed for people who lead busy lives and are always on the go.  The great thing is that although they have the same thrills,cash prizes and addictive quality as bingo in a physical hall, the games are simplified enough that you don’t need to commit a long period of time to play a game.  Even if you just have the time it takes to wait for a bus or train and travel to work; you still have enough time to play.

Easy To Use And Play

If you have ever played on older online gambling sites, you will know that often they were littered with menus and options.  Most mobile gambling and bingo apps and sites are simplified to make it much easier for you to play on the go using a smaller screen.  As briefly mentioned in the paragraph above, the gameplay has also been simplified so that it is a lot easier and quicker to play a game.  It is easy to see why this suits playing on the go or if you have a short period of time free, such as a coffee or lunch break during your working day.

Compatible With Most Devices

As long as you have either a iOS or Android powered smartphone or tablet, there should be no problem finding a mobile bingo site or app that you like that is compatible with your device.  In fact,you will find that the vast majority of gambling sites and apps are available for both Apple and Google-related products.  So, even if you have seen a game that you like on a friend’s phone and you have a different model that uses a different operating system; you may still be able to play that particular game.

Integration With Social Media

As bingo and its online and mobile counterparts are all very sociable games, it makes sense that many of these kinds of sites integrate with social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook.  This makes it feel less like an insular thing and more like a community thing as you can share your progress or winnings with friends as well as joining up with your friend’s games too.  Check out for mobile bingo at landmarkbingo.

7 Ways to Make Your Home Safe and Healthy

7 Ways to Make Your Home Safe and Healthy

To most parents, there is nothing more important than the safety of their child. While many parents worry about their children’s safety away from home, many do not realize that more kids are actually more likely to be injured or hurt at home due to an unintentional accident.

Because most of these accidents can be prevented, here are 7 ways to ensure that your home is safe and healthy so you can have save, healthy, and happy children:

  1. Online Safety

Because so much information is given online nowadays, it is important to keep your children safe when using the computer. It is all too easy for your child to stumble across something he or she shouldn’t, or to accidentally give out information they shouldn’t. Take some time to teach your children how to be safe when using the computer, and if your children are still young, make sure computer time is supervised. Many kids can be manipulated into giving out pictures or passwords to online hackers or predators. For more information on safety blocks and parental controls, read here.

  1. Bathtub Safety

Many parents are aware that young, small children can accidentally drown in a bathtub, but many are as aware of the danger of hot water. If the water is too hot, your child could actually be burned by scalding water. Babies and toddlers can be scalded in a mere few seconds if they are exposed to water at 140 degrees and higher, thus, before placing them in the tub, make sure you test the water.

  1. Windows

One of the most common injuries experienced by children each year is window injuries. Windows that are not properly secured, whether by guardrails or child safety locks, can lead to serious danger for your children. Your windows should be secured with child safety locks, and if they are open, it is in your children’s best interest to install guardrails. While screens can marginally prevent injuries, if a child pushed hard enough, they could break a screen, leaving them in danger of falling. Another serious threat to children are cords on blinds and shades, as toddlers and babies can accidentally strangle themselves.

  1. Stairs

Steep stairs can be extremely dangerous for babies and toddlers, thus it is important to have safety gates blocking any entry to stairs. Because it is easy to slip on stairs at any age, once your children are old enough to use the stairs properly, remind them to be careful how quickly they go up and down the stairs.

  1. Cleaners

Cleaning products and other items, such as cosmetics, medications, vitamins, mouthwash, rubbing alcohol, etc., should be placed in a locked cabinet that is out of reach of children. If ingested, these items can have severe consequences, which can have permanent effects. Should anyone accidentally ingest these, make sure to call poison control immediately.

  1. Fire Safety

Fires are extremely dangerous and can spread quickly, which can leave your family in trouble should a fire break out in your home or nearby. One of the best ways to prevent fires is to make sure your smoke detectors are in good working order. All homes must have a smoke detector in each room, and while new smoke detectors chirp to let you know that their batteries have died, older smoke detectors might not. Just to be safe, you should test your smoke detectors every six months to a year.

Additionally, when it comes to fire safety, it is important to teach your children the basics of fire safety. It is instinctual for children to hide during a fire, but that can hinder a firefighter’s ability to find them, thus it is important they know what to do if a fire breaks out.

  1. Carbon Monoxide

Similarly to a smoke detector, you can purchase a carbon monoxide indicator. In fact, new smoke detectors often come with a carbon monoxide detector included. Because carbon monoxide is colorless and odorless, without a detector, it can be nearly impossible to determine whether or not it is in your home. Carbon monoxide can be deadly, as it can prevent oxygen from reaching the brain. Make sure your heating system is working properly, and that any other appliance that uses natural gas is in good working order.

These 7 tips can help keep your family safe and healthy.

Image Source: https://pixabay.com/en/baby-child-daughter-family-girl-17369/

How to Re-Caulk a Bathroom

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Whether around the bathtub, sink, or shower, caulking is never going to remain watertight forever. Yours will eventually start to show signs of wear, then begin to crack, shrink, or discolour. This means that it isn’t doing its job anymore, so you need to re-caulk in order to prevent water damage from occurring.

Firstly, you’ll need to assess the caulking to make sure it needs to be removed. Certain areas are more likely to fail than others, so check places which are frequently wet, those which bear pressure, and those which are hit directly by the stream of water from your shower. If there are any signs of damage, it’s time to get re-caulking.

You’ll need to get rid of the existing caulk first, and the difficulty will vary from case to case. You may be able to remove it using a putty knife, but a Stanley knife can be useful to scrape any remaining bits away from your tiles. There are also caulk softeners available to speed up the process. Trying to bond new caulk to old caulk won’t often work, so make sure you get rid of it all. Use the smallest nozzle on your vacuum to remove the debris, then prepare the tiles for a fresh application by moistening a paper towel with rubbing alcohol and cleaning away any remaining residue.

You’re now ready to apply the new caulk. Once you’re set up with the caulking gun drag the tip along in one swift motion which is consistent with the speed at which the caulk is coming out. Wipe the tip clean after each length, then continue along the perimeter until all edges are re-caulked.

 

If excess blobs emerge, just dip your finger in water and run it along the caulk line to smooth things out. Keep re-wetting your finger whenever you need to do so. If you find a gap where not enough was applied, you should be able to wipe excess caulk from another area to cover it. If not, add a small blob and then smooth it in using a damp paper towel to make it seamless.

Your bathroom is now re-caulked. All you need to do now is pack up the equipment, wait for everything to dry, and then get back to life as normal. Simple.

 

 

Considering Cosmetic Surgery? Here Are 4 Things You Should Know

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Are you considering cosmetic surgery or laser treatments performed by a cosmetic surgeon? Whether it is breast augmentation, brow lift, liposuction, laser hair removal or nose reshaping that you are considering, here are four things you should know before your procedure.

Recovery Times Vary

Recovery times vary for all cosmetic surgeries and for each person, so speak to a medical professional thoroughly about expected recovery times before going ahead with the procedure. Breast augmentation recovery times can be weeks, sometimes months, whereas an eyebrow lift will only take a couple of days for pain and discomfort to cease. To ensure you give your body the best chance of recovery, follow the advice given by your medical practitioner before, during and post-surgery. It is also important to understand the expected recovery time so you can organise time off work and away from the pressures of daily life.

Visit a Specialist Cosmetic Surgeon

The cost of cosmetic surgery can be significantly high, and depending on the procedure, the price can vary between establishments. When considering cosmetic surgery it is important to visit a reputable specialist in the field with professional qualifications, such as Cosmetic Surgery for Women . Cosmetic surgery can be an expensive procedure and you shouldn’t ever go with the cheapest quote based on price alone. A specialist cosmetic surgeon may cost more, however you can be assured that you are in the hands of a qualified professional who has performed the particular procedure many times before.

Risks and Complications

Once you have decided on and visited a specialist cosmetic surgeon who you trust and feel comfortable with, it is important to understand the risks and complications associated with the procedure, even if there is only a small chance of them happening to you. Each cosmetic procedure comes with a different list of risks and complications, so ask your doctor to explain them all in detail so you know what you may be in for. Risks and complications can include swelling, scarring, infection, bleeding, discomfort, sensitivity and bruising.

Follow Your Surgeons Advice Pre and Post Treatment

It may sound silly, but are you ready to kick some bad habits and follow your surgeons plastic surgery aftercare advice?

Different surgeries have different requirements from you for the best result. If you’re not willing to do what it takes for optimal recovery, cosmetic surgery might not be for you. For example, if you smoke, your clinic will likely ask you to quit smoking for at least a few weeks prior to, and then after your procedure.

This is for a number of reasons, some of which include the vasoconstriction (tightening) of blood vessels that smoking causes. No oxygen-rich blood flow to your surgery area means slow recovery or even an increased risk of infection.

Dietary recommendations, along with alcohol consumption and exercise advice may be given too, depending on the treatment you’re going for.

Do It for the Right Reasons

Cosmetic surgery can be an invasive, uncomfortable and confronting experience, so make sure you are going ahead with the procedure for the right reasons. Don’t go ahead with the procedure if you are doing it for someone else, because you will never be happy with the result if it’s not something you truly want.

Like all medical procedures, cosmetic surgery is a decision that you can only make once you are completely informed about the procedure, the potential risks involved and the recovery time required for your body to heal. Always consult a professional medical practitioner and be open with your doctor about any concerns and fears.

If you’ve had cosmetic surgery, is there anything you wish you knew before going ahead with the procedure?

3 Things to Don When You Are Bored on the Job

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My first serious full-time job was a clerk at a company selling paints. It was exciting and fun at first, but then winter came – a time when nobody paints – so I had nothing to do all day long. I had to be there in case a customer dropped in. But a typical work day between December and February was extremely boring. I guess many of you are in a similar situation – maybe even you, reading these lines right now. Here are some tips on what you can do to fill all those empty hours.

1. Learn

I used my long winter days on the job, when no customers were around, to learn to code. I started with HTML and CSS, and moved on to PHP – when I left the company, I had the skills of a junior web developer. And I did all that in the time I spent idly in front of my computer.

If you have a computer at hand, and also an internet connection (a standard for most jobs nowadays), you have all that it takes to learn something new. The internet is full of information – all you have to do is reach out and assimilate it. It beats sitting idly and waiting for a customer to come, for sure – and the long term benefits are huge.

2. Play

Playing a game is a perfect way to fill the boring hours on the job – especially if you are alone in your office or in the shop. I’ve tried it quite a few times – finally I ended up playing on a daily basis at Royal Vegas Online Casino, which has become my favorite casino over time. Royal Vegas has everything I was looking for at the time – exciting games to kill time, amazing specials and promotions, and the opportunity to become rich. While I’ve never hit any jackpots at Royal Vegas, I’ve seen my name quite a few times on its Winner’s Wall. Playing there has proven not only a perfect way to fill some boring hours at work, but also a “side job” that put a few extra bucks in my pocket month after month.

3. Look for a new job

If you are bored at work, it’s obvious that something’s not right. If it’s seasonal, like in my case, there’s not much you can do about it, but if you otherwise can’t find the satisfaction you need at your workplace, maybe it’s time to look for a new one. As I said above, I left my job with a skill set I learned during the boring hours of winter – a skill set that landed me a new job.

Tips For Playing At Live Casinos

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In recent years, live casinos with live dealers have become a popular area of online casino gambling.  Part of what people love about these type of games in a live setting is the chance to play the games they enjoy while chatting and socialising with the often very pretty dealers that work on these sites.  There are many factors that can influence whether the type of experience you have playing live casino games, and it is important to understand these to help you find the best casino for you.

Only Play At A Live Casino With A Good Reputation

Whether a casino has a good reputation or not is more important than anything else in this post.  As you will be playing with your hard earned money, you want to know that your money is safe and crucially, If you win games, the casino will pay out.  It is wise then to do plenty of research before joining any casino and giving them your payment details.

Check Your Bandwidth

Obviously I you are going to play a casino game live online, you will be looking for seamless lie streaming and smooth gameplay.  It is vital then once you have found a reputable casino that you check the connection and computer system requirements to make sure you will get the experience you should from playing at that site.

Don’t Chase Losses

Chasing losses is perhaps the most common mistake that newbie players can make.  Most likely you are visiting a live casino site to make some money and have a lot of fun.  There will be days when the hands go your way, and the days when they don’t.  It is important that you are able to differentiate between the two and when you lose a number of hands one after the other, you call it a day.

Know When to Stop

Similarly to players who chase losses, there are players who are never satisfied with their winnings. If you won some good cash and your luck is starting to change, it is advisable to leave the table before you lose everything, including your initial budget.

Play With Strategy

It should come as no surprise that if you play with good strategies in mind, your chances of winning at live casino games increases significantly.  Regardless of what your favourite game is, log on with a clear strategy in your mind and stick to it.

Be Aware Of Etiquette

When you play live tables, you will normally be joined by other players, which means you should be aware of the live casino etiquette that exists.  Only sit at a table if you intend on playing, because there will be plenty of other people waiting to play.  If all you are going to do is mess around, don’t as you may get banned or at the very least will be disliked very quickly.  You should also treat the dealers and other players with respect and avoid promoting other casinos, complaining and using abusive and explicit language.