Hello From Niagara Falls ? Exploring The Clifton Hills Entertainment Area and Doing A Little Gambling

 



Hello From Niagara Falls ? Exploring The Clifton Hills Entertainment Area & Doing A Little GamblingSubmitted By: Susanne Pacher  

Yesterday morning my last full day in Niagara Falls, Ontario, had arrived. After a packed schedule the day before that had included a wonderful presentation at the Imax Theatre, my up-close encounter with the Great Falls at the Journey Behind the Falls and an entertaining show at the Oh Canada Eh? Dinner Theatre, I got ready for another full day of explorations in Niagara Falls.

I already got a great start to the day when Kevin Kilpatrick, the gourmet chef and co-owner of Kilpatrick Manor, prepared an absolutely scrumptious breakfast for me: after a delicious fresh fruit platter with yoghurt and freshly made banana bread I feasted on ?breakfast ravioli?, one of Kevin?s unique culinary inventions. This light yet tasty breakfast dish features scrambled eggs, bacon and old cheddar cheese surrounded by thinly rolled out pasta and a home made tomato sauce with garlic, white wine and leeks. Kevin, with his gregarious and outgoing manner, sat down with me and kept me entertained with stories from his international hospitality adventures in France when he and wife Nance were managing a large chalet in the French Alps.

After this great start I rushed out to take my rental vehicle back to Budget Rent-A-Car since my husband was coming in from Toronto to join me in Niagara Falls. Although I had driven only 78 kilometers in two days, my little Toyota Yaris had served me extremely well in getting around Niagara Falls at a reasonable price.

On this sunny yet very cold day we started with a nice walk at the foot of Clifton Hill, strolling westwards along the Niagara Parkway towards the Canadian Horshehoe Falls. A brilliant blue sky bathed the Niagara River in bright light, and some of the metal railings next to the walkway were covered in sparkling ice formations from the mist that is formed by the Horseshoe Falls. Dozens of other tourists were also taking a noon-time walk and were snapping pictures of their friends and families against the backdrop of the mighty Niagara Falls.

Our real destination for today was the Clifton Hill area ? Niagara Fall?s main tourist promenade. Clifton Hill, the street, extends from the Niagara Parkway next to the Niagara River to Victoria Avenue on top of the hill and features dozens of restaurants, gift shops, fast food outlets, hotels and various attractions such as haunted houses, wax museums and other tourist entertainment. This popular tourist trap is often packed to the gills with people strolling up and down, soaking in the boisterous carnival atmosphere of this area.

Clifton Hill has a long-standing history as an entertainment area: hotels have been in existence here since the late 1800s. During the 1920s this area developed into a popular tourist destination and several additional inns and tourist camps were constructed nearby over the next few decades. Since the 1960s several museums have been built, which include the Houdini Hall of Fame, the Hollywood Wax Museum, the House of Frankenstein, the Guiness World Records Museum, Ripley?s Believe It Or Not and several others.

We decided to make our first stop at the Niagara SkyWheel, a recently constructed giant ferris wheel whose 42 climate controlled gondolas provide an excellent view over all the main attractions of Niagara Falls. During the 10 minute ride on this 53 metre high ferris wheel we had a magnificent view over the Canadian and American Falls as well as over all the other attractions and the residential areas of Niagara Falls. Fortunately, the weather was perfect for this experience and our 360 degree panoramic view extended for many miles.

Because of the brisk weather we decided to duck inside and headed into the Guiness World Records Museum. Formerly called the Guiness Book of World Records, this institution has a colourful history: the managing director of the famous Guiness Brewery in Ireland happened to ask himself during a hunting party in 1951 which bird was faster ? a grouse or a golden plover? Unable to find an answer to this question in reference books, he figured that there would have to be thousands of other questions that could not be settled by consulting a reference book and decided to create a book to supply answers to these types of questions.

The book became an overnight surprise hit and eventually an updated version featuring new records was published on a yearly basis and has evolved from a text-heavy reference book into a colourful, richly illustrated publication. In recent years several small museums have been created in locations such as Tokyo, San Francisco, Hollywood, Atlantic City, Myrtle Beach and Copenhagen to showcase noteworthy, and sometimes bizarre, world records. The location in Niagara Falls features photos and descriptions of many examples of world records including such curiosities as the world?s tallest man and the world?s smallest woman.

We explored the many interactive displays that feature world records in the spheres of entertainment, art, literature and sport. Natural disasters and scientific achievements are covered as well. Some of the records on display truly boggle the mind and it makes you wonder who has the time to come up with some of these rather offbeat ideas for world records, and who might have the time to execute those ideas. Images of record holders such as the man with the world?s longest ear hairs (4 inches!) were a little scary, to be honest.

Our next destination featured similarly off-beat human feasts: Ripley?s Believe It or Not!, built to look loke a collapsed Empire State Building with King Kong standing at the top, is a true collection of human oddities. Robert LeRoy Ripley (1893 to 1949) was a cartoonist, entrepreneur and amateur anthropologist whose newspaper panel series featured odd but true facts from all over the world. Ripley travelled a lot and became a collector of unusual items from all sorts of exotic destinations around the globe. From 1929 onwards Robert Ripley fascinated readers of seventeen national newspapers with his Believe It Or Not syndicated newspaper panel series. At the height of his popularity he was said to have received more mail than the American president. Ripley became a true media giant of his time and expanded into radio and early television before his death of a heart attack in 1949.

At the Niagara Falls Ripley?s Believe It or Not! we continued our exploration of strange and exotic things and were greeted right away by a three-dimensional sculpture of the world?s largest woman. True oddities such as vampire killing kits, a collection of macabre yet funny gravestones, two-headed piglets and a variety of life-sized optical illusions transported us into the land of the surreal and bizarre. To round out the collection of oddities, Ripley?s also operates a Moving Theatre and Louis Tussaud?s Waxworks in Niagara Falls.

After these explorations of the strange and unusual we decided to head back to our cozy bed and breakfast, the Kilpatrick Manor B&B. Chilled to the bone we decided to relax on the comfortable king-size bed, turn on the fireplace, watch a bit of TV and warm up under the soft cotton covers. A luxurious shower in the multi-jet Neptune shower helped to warm up my frozen bones. Now I understood what the owner Kevin Kilpatrick was referring to when he told me that guests just like to ?nest? at their bed and breakfast. It was indeed a supremely comfortable relaxing environment that got us ready for our last evening in Niagara Falls.

We decided to have dinner at the Frontier Grillhouse which is located adjacent to the Best Western Fireside Hotel with a great view overlooking the Niagara River. This modern casual restaurant features an extensive menu with a variety of freshly prepared breakfast dishes or an all-you-can-eat breakfast. The dinner menu has a large selection of appetizers, soups and salads and a wide range of grilled dishes including prime rib, New York striploin, Filet Mignon, T-bone steaks. Pastas, seafood and desserts round out the offering at the Frontier Grillhouse. I enjoyed my piping hot French onion soup and garlicky escargots with gratinated mozzarella while my husband treated himself to a very generous plate of Fettucine Alfredo. We couldn?t have added dessert even if we had wanted to.

We could have relaxed for even longer at the Frontier Grillhouse, but one more adventure was waiting for us: a bit of gambling at the Fallsview Casino Resort. Niagara Falls has long been a popular destination for gambling. On the Ontario side there are two large casinos: Casino Niagara, located in the Clifton Hill area, and the recently opened Fallsview Casino Resort which has been enticing gamblers since 2004. As we had already explored Clifton Hill, we decided to visit the Fallsview Casino which is an impressive hotel, shopping, gaming and entertainment complex located on a hill with an amazing view of the majestic Canadian Horseshoe Falls.

The entire complex is mind-boggling ? with a 100,000 square foot gaming floor it impresses even the most experienced casino-goer. Since it was our first time here and neither one of us is a casino regular, we were astounded by the seemingly never-ending gaming floor which features 3000 slot machines and 150 table games. Everywhere lights are blinking and the chime-like sounds of the slot machines fill the air. My husband is quite a talented hobby poker player, and he checked out the amazing array of table games, which include poker games like Let It Ride and Carribean Stud. Other table games include Baccarat, Blackjack, Craps, Roulette and Spanish 21 as well as more exotic varieties such as the ancient Chinese Sic Bo game of dice, Pai Gow Tiles ? a Chinese version of dominoes, and Pai Gow Poker which combines elements Asian Pai Gow and Western-style poker.

I decided to just watch the action and sit back as my husband tried his hand at different types of poker. Lady Luck was shining on him for a while, but as the evening progressed he gave back all his winnings and lost a bit of money. But I could see from his face that he had thoroughly enjoyed himself and had a great evening. We resolved to come to Niagara Falls again and next time we were going to bring my mother-in-law as well who loves playing the slots occasionally.

Nicely tired from a full night of entertainment we got back to our cozy B&B and just fell into bed for a great night?s sleep. This morning it was time for us to leave, but before our departure we enjoyed one more delicious breakfast at the Kilpatrick Manor B&B. Chef Kevin had prepared an absolutely scrumptious strawberry crepe with Grand Marnier sauce (absolutely heavenly!) while my husband enjoyed Kevin?s ?full-on fry?, featuring eggs any style, bacon, sausage, potatoes and toast.

We regretted to have to leave Niagara Falls, but fortunately our adventures were set to continue with a trip to Buffalo and a subsequent flight from Buffalo for a quick tropical jaunt to Puerto Rico. But this three-day adventure in Niagara Falls has been a great entertaining winter getaway from the city. Despite my tightly packed schedule in Niagara Falls I have only scratched the surface of things to see and do and I plan to come back some time in the summer to see enjoy some of the outdoor activities that Niagara Falls and the surrounding region have to offer.

About the Author:

Susanne Pacher is the publisher of a website called Travel and Transitions. Travel and Transitions deals with travel to foreign countries and is chock full of advice, tips, real life travel experiences, interviews with travelers and travel experts, insights and reflections, cross-cultural issues, contests and many other features.

Realtors It's Time To Take Charge

The Next Real Estate Industry Revolution: A primer on how to become a full service provider to your clients.

After the introduction of the MLS and the advent of Franchising, the Real Estate Industry was changed forever. We are now on the brink of a third revolution, which only a few real estate agents are embracing.

You are and always have been and will be the Trusted Adviser to your clients. They look to you for advice, what to do next in the process of purchasing their new home. You have a huge influence. Until now, there appears to be many reasons for you not to provide full real estate services to your clients; such as mortgage financing or other services. Some of your reasons maybe:

Fear of getting too financially intimate with your client

Don't want to spread yourself too thin, you want to focus on what you know, which is real estate

Lack of knowledge & expertise regarding finance and mortgage

Added expense and time required to start another business

Fear of violating RESPA and may risk the possibility of loosing your license

You were told not to in real estate school or by your very own managing broker (while you knew that he or she was already in the mortgage business)

Most Realtors have been thought in sales school, that to be successful they must stay in control of their client and the sales process. To-day how business is being conducted is rapidly changing with the ever growing Internet Customer. Have you noticed that you are less and less in control. Here are some interesting statistics; "76% of clients looking for a home will use the Internet, before they ever E-mail, telephone or meet with a Realtor". - 'The National Association of Realtors (NAR) recently conducted a survey which determined that over 80% of home buyers would prefer to have their real estate agent help them with their mortgage financing rather than refer them over to someone new and unknown." Consider a New Business Model, where Internet technology and easy to use Point of Sale mortgage loan origination systems, implemented on the Internet, makes the tasks of filling out a 1003 mortgage application a breeze.

Initial loan documents and required disclosures by law are automatically generated and E-mailed to your clients within the three day RESPA rule. Mortgage products and pricing are done automatically from the input you provide by filling out the easy e1003 application in your browser. Then a list of available solutions are given to you to select from by the build in pricing engines.

You can become a virtual owner of a Mortgage Company overnight. Give your clients more of what they want and spend 80% of your time on the 20% of the activities that will expand your business and generate more revenue for you.

Here are a few steps to follow to implement this New Business Model:

Decide to add Mortgage Origination to your or your team's existing core of talents (Whatever your talents are now, you need someone else's talents to complement yours to realize your goals faster.) Benefits: You will stay in control of the loan process. You won't miss any important contractual dates. You will get automated loan status reports. You will stay RESPA compliant. You will make an additional commission by representing your clients on mortgage origination.

Create a Winning Team- by having a highly focused, local team tailored to support your business is your key to success. You can outsource mortgage origination to a local team of a mortgage bank (make sure that they have the track record in the purchase origination business, they have the technology, products, pricing, in-house underwriting and processing support) and still receive a healthy piece of the mortgage loan commission. You can decide how much time and energy you want to spend in the mortgage business. You can have your own dedicated mortgage coordinator and processor. You can direct your client to your loan coordinator to get pre-approved. You can be in conference with your client and your loan coordinator to complete the on-line loan application and follow the process on your computer.

This is a testimonial from a Realtor in Albuquerque, NM, who is taking charge and using this new business model: "When I joined the company, I was looking for a place to put my license that would give me flexibility. I have bought and sold homes for several years, mostly my own properties. Little did I know the real opportunities that this company presented. I can make more money in less time with no investment or liability like I had before. I have recently been a buyer‘s broker with a customer and originated a loan at the same time, with the help of Steve Toth. My customer received excellent service at a single location (his home). I already had most of the info I needed for the loan. The purchase offer was accepted on a Thursday and by Friday we already had a pre-approval on the loan. How easy is that for my customer and me? My customer did not even have to miss work. I have changed my whole focus on Real Estate. Instead of spending days looking for my next project, I spend my time with customers ready to buy or sell and helping others in the business. None of which is none productive time. What a great opportunity for any Real Estate agent!!"-Ron Hensley-Albuquerque, NM

To find out more on Strategic Alliances with Realtors to Offer Mortgage Education and Full Service Real Estate to Consumers and to view our Webcast click here

About the Author:

Mr. Toth has over eight years of residential, commercial and investment banking experience. He started the Real Estate and Mortgage Focus Radio Show in early 2004 on 630KHOW Denver's Talk Station to educate the public about real estate, finance and coaching. He became known as a real estate and finance area expert and someone who networks at a high level within the industry.

In 2006 Steve M Toth, ?The Mortgage Guy?-Radio Show Host on Live365 expanded the ?Real Estate and Mortgage Focus?? Radio Show Program into a national show on Live365- the World?s Largest National Internet Radio Network.

In 2003 he started a coaching practice called Real-Coaching? to provide coaching programs and consulting services that dramatically enhance individual and team performance in the areas of Sales, Motivation, Leadership, Teamwork, Communication and Life Balance Management Skills for Realtors, Investors and Mortgage Professionals.

Beginner Backgammon Strategy Points

Backgammon is pretty much a race to see who can get their checkers off the board first. This can be accomplished easily but it depends on how you move your checkers around the board. Here we will look at some that can help you win and make your opponent a little dumbfounded.

While it may seem stupid to let yourself lose a piece to your opponent early on, it actually might be smart. In the beginning, you both have less pieces in your home board, and thus it?s easier to get those checkers back into the game and around the board to your own home. The more pieces your opponent has in their home board later in the game, the harder it can be to get those back on the board to do anything. So leaving one or two checkers open can make it easier for you later when you have your checkers almost all home and on the way off the board to win.

Your distribution of checkers is a big part of how to win. You should try not to have six on any one point. Definitely don?t have more than six; it makes you an easy target to get crunched in by your opponent. And while it would seem sound advice to have two checkers on four spots, it?s actually not a good move. Better to have three checkers on two spots at once. This is because the dice seem to fall better for more even distribution and improves your chances of winning the game.

Blocking can be a crucial part of winning. It is best to block your opponent in your home board. Here they will have a harder time getting out as you bring more checkers in to go off the board. This strategy works if you start early and get six checkers inside your home board early. This way you can block your opponent in and still get your own pieces into your home board. Six in a row is called a prime in backgammon. The best places to try and block from are points 4, 5, and 7.

To make an impact against your opponent, hit as many pieces as you can. However don?t just hit pieces to hit. Sometimes this can work against you. If your opponent has at least two bars in their home board, it is better for you to get your checkers home instead of taking out another checker of theirs. Don?t hit if it will leave you open to hits or blocks yourself. This is counterproductive to actually winning.

The final strategy move to help you win is called anchoring. This is where you have a strong spot on their home board. It helps if you get hit, you have a strong spot, an anchor, to move your piece back on the board safely. It also keeps your opponent from being able to go out themselves. And if you have more than one anchor it can help if you are behind in points early on. As well as making you stronger against your opponent. If you do have two points make them adjacent to make it harder for your opponent to move on their home board.

All of this isn?t guaranteed to make you win, but it can help you along the way. Used properly you can get 'lucky' rolls and make your opponent wonder just how long you have been playing.

About the Author:

All of Shawn's backgammon strategy articles can be found at HomeBackgammon.com along with bonus codes, freeroll listings and tournament schedules.

Alicante Car Rental Made Easy

The most popular and convenient way to get around in Alicante, Spain is to rent a car. Whether you?re traveling up the Costa Blanca to Benidorm, or staying in Alicante to sightsee, it?s great to have a car at your disposal. Renting is simple to do, and depending on your itinerary, it will generally be more cost-effective than any other mode of transportation. There are several key things to take note of before you go.

Alicante Car Rental

When you land at the airport in Alicante, you?ll find several different car rental companies to choose from, including worldwide names such as Avis and Hertz, and regional companies like Auriga and Centuaro. They?re easily accessible from the arrival area.

It?s best to book your car rental before your vacation to ensure you get the best price. Also, depending on when you?re traveling, it?s a good idea to pre-arrange a car in advance to be sure that you?ll have one when you arrive. Particularly in the summer, which is peak season in Alicante, you?ll find that rental inventory goes quickly.

You can use several different ways to reserve your car. You can book online, through a travel agent, or directly with the company you select. Many times you can find a great deal on a car rental as part of a vacation package. Be sure to shop several companies for the best rates. When shopping, include any additional charges, such as insurance, as well as any restrictions that will apply, to get a clear picture when comparing prices.

The car doesn?t always have to be picked up at the airport, though for some, that?s most convenient. Sometimes you?ll find that renting in town is more affordable than renting at the airport. Think about where you?ll be picking up and dropping off to ensure that you?ll have transportation to and from the rental location. If you?re renting from a location other than the airport, most companies offer complimentary transportation to the rental company.

Don?t Forget the Extras

Consider any extra features or charges when renting. Find out what?s included in the price. Some rental companies may include insurance in their cost, some may not.

One important issue to address is whether or not you?ll need to bring a child safety seat. You may have already brought it for the flight, and it?s a simple procedure to get it into the rental car. Or you may have planned to rent one once you arrived. Either way, if you have an infant or child in the car, Spanish law states that he or she must be secured in a safety seat. If a rental company provides it, there?s an additional charge.

Be sure to get a car with air conditioning. It might be an obvious feature, but one you may not realize you need until you?re in the sweltering heat of Alicante without it.

Careful planning and review of all of your options will ensure you have the best possible car rental experience.

Peter Wilson's detailed articles are found on lots of websites linked to Benidorm. You might find out more about his articles on Alicante car rental over at http://www.alicante-spain.com/alicantecarrental.html and different sources for Alicante car rental news.

What is a Market Value Index?

This entry was posted on 02/21/2006 01:37 PM and is filed under Pricing Properties for purchase and resale.

Market-value weighted index

Definition

A stock index in which each stock affects the index in proportion to its market value. Examples include Nasdaq Composite Index, S&P 500, Wilshire 5000 Equity Index, Hang Seng Index, and EAFE Index. also called capitalization weighted index.

We use the term to find out the value of the property we intend to purchase and resell. It is our formula for purchasing and reselling property. Unlike most of you we do not use the real estate brokers to price out our purchases and do not always rely upon the comparable sales method used by brokers. In fact we see a conflict (tension) between the real estate broker and us as investors that can not be resolved. The broker wants a listing and will try to get you the highest and best price for the property. This may take months to do and may wreak havoc on your cash flow waiting to make a few thousand dollars more. It also is simply not right to use the opinion of somebody who has no skin ($) in the deal.

We instead follow a sales index based upon the history of the street, block, ward or if need be neighborhood to give us a bigger picture of the actual value of the property.

We did not invent the sales index and in fact borrowed the idea from the writings of many economics experts. Two of the most notable are Case and Schiller. They are the economic guru?s who created the repeat sales index that is used by the Government Service Enterprises as well as others. We simply analyzed the writings (ten years ago) and began testing a localized model using a history of all sales on the street from 1985 forward. We then took into consideration the square footage, interest rates and a couple of other items to equalize the properties.

This then gave us the price that the property should sell for (a conservative price) and the price we should purchase the home for based upon our profit requirements, carrying costs and capital costs.

We then added in the mix the cost of a rehabilitation of a home based upon post mortems and we were off to the races. Type in or automatically gather the sales (depends on the county) then you have the value of the home.The second calculation targets the remaining costs based upon prior dealings with the lenders, brokers and rehabilitation to tell you what you can expect as a gross profit.

As a FrontGate client you will learn how to use this index and only ask your broker for a reassuring opinion of value. Never will you feel nervous about making offers.

So do yourself a favor and learn to do a market value index on every property you purchase. Or let us teach you to perform them. www.frontgateconsulting.com

Staying Calm When Home Values Drop

As the real estate market cools off across the nation, many people are getting nervous about reductions in the value of their property. There is little reason for such stress.

Staying Calm When Home Values Drop

The real estate market can be looked at in two ways. First, you can look at the movements on a monthly or annual basis. When doing so, you will see moves up or down and perhaps stress yourself out far more than necessary. Alternatively, you can look at prices on a long-term perspective of five years or more and predict where they will go based on historical trends in real estate. By far, this second approach is the way to go when it comes to viewing the value of your home.

Unless you live in Texas or Colorado, there is no denying that you have probably seen significant appreciation gains on your home over the last ten years. The market has been about as hot as it ever has. Properties in Las Vegas, for instance, were appreciating at a staggering rate of twenty-five percent or more a year. A YEAR! On paper, a lot of people became millionaires because of the equity gains in their home. As always, such growth could not be sustained inevitably.

The gains you have made over the last five years or so appear to be under attack at the moment. Across the nation, we are seeing a pull back on home values because of a cooling real estate market. It is important that you don?t overreact to this pull back. The gains you have seen in the last few years were paper gains, to wit, they did not put money in your bank account unless you pulled money out of your home. As home values cool, it is important to realize any loss of equity is also a paper loss, to wit, you aren?t paying anything out.

A map of real estate prices over the years would show a continual up trend. Yes, there are variations over a two to three year period, but the overall trend is an increase in property values. There is no reason to believe this will change anytime soon. The current pull back on property values will pass and your home will start appreciating again. It may take a year or two, but it will happen. Relax!

If you are seeing a pull back on the value of your home, you should not sell unless there is some other compelling reason. Practice patience and you will see prices rise again in the near future.

Raynor James is with the site - FSBOAmerica.org - FSBO homes for sale by owner.

The Parent?s Guide to Wheeled Backpacks

As practical as backpacks are, more and more children are ending up in doctor?s offices or hospital emergency rooms with symptoms like ?rucksack palsy? tingling and numbness in the hands and arms caused by overloaded and improperly worn school backpacks.

Concerned parents are buying wheeled backpacks for their kids in an effort to prevent long term health problems for their children.A wheeled backpack is basically a backpack that has been outfitted with wheels to it can be towed along on the ground as well as being carried like a regular backpack. Except for their lack of heavy duty wheels and more durable coverings, kids wheeled backpacks are similar in function to wheeled overnight bags used for business travellers. A wheeled backpack is a safe way for a young student to move heavy textbooks from home to school.What to Look For In a Kids? Wheeled BackpackThe best backpack with wheels will have nice wide padded shoulder straps. It should also have a well padded back section to protect your child?s back and shoulders from bulky books with pointed edges.Get a backpack constructed out a built to last material like polyester or nylon. Kids of all ages can be rough on their belongings and wheeled backpacks are no exception. Get a backpack that can knocks, scuffs and keep on rolling.Wheeled backpacks will have either a double looped pole or a single ?T? metal handle coming from the frame and extending out the top. The handle should be kid tough and retracts neatly away when not needed. A molded grip helps small hands maintain a solid grasp while running for the bus.Look for a kids wheeled backpacks with lots of zippered front and side stash pockets so your kid can keep those needed essentials (like pens and cell phones) tucked away safely but still have them close at hand.If possible find a kid?s backpack that has nice inside pockets too. Kids especially need to secure their wallets, house keys, iPods and other personal stuff. A big super-sized compartment is great but not if your kid has to search around in it for 10 minutes to find their door keys! The less time a child spends exposed on the street the better.What about a carrying a laptop in wheeled backpack? Since lots of kids, especially high school and college age students are taking their laptops to classes with them you may want to consider getting a wheeled backpack large enough to accommodate a computer. A backpack should have a specially padded compartment covered in a soft material like Velour to protect a laptop.? Another thing you can look for in kids wheeled backpacks are padded top grab handle that allows a quick and easy way for your child to stow your backpack under desks, inside lockers, and out of the way when riding on buses.Wheeled backpacks are a parent?s best bets to prevent back problems for your child plus save on expensive trips to the doctor.

Source: Free Articles from ArticlesFactory.com

ABOUT THE AUTHOR


In-depth information and a complete guide to selecting the best backpack. Providing you with all you need to know in regards to a vast array of backpacks from rolling backpacks to office backpacks and plenty more.

BMW Convertible Models Made In The US

European manufacturers have made convertible car models for many years, even for the american market. One of these is BMW. Have you heard about the Z3 roadster? This was the first mass-market and assembled BMW convertible in the United States. We saw this model on the market in 1996, just after it was featured in the James Bond movie, Golden Eye. The production ended in the year 2002 and before that many variants were introduced. The coupe version was also introduced in 1999 after having been manufactured and assembled in Spartanburg, South Carolina. In the late 2002 the Z4 model - the successor to the Z3 model - was introduced in the Paris Auto Show.

The engineers which developed the Z3 used the E36 of the BMW 3 Series as a platform. The l name of the platform that resulted out of this was referred as the E36/7 model. The rear semi-trailing arm suspension from the E30 model was used rather than the more sophisticated multilink suspension from the E36. At first, just the 1.9 L M44B19 straight-4 engine was offered, though its 138 hp made the vehicle less of a performer than many buyers wanted. Feedback from customers told that the interiors of this model were not good as it was in the other models of this manufacturer. Especially bad looking was the plastic rear window even in comparison to to the glass unit found on the much-cheaper 1999 model Mazda Miata.

In 1997, this little four was complemented by a larger straight-6 engine In the North American market, the 2.8 L M52B28. This engine, taken from the 328i, was especially attractive with its 189 hp. As the four was retired a 3.2 L S52B32 I6 engine was used in the M Roadster that came in the year after. In 1999, the 1.9L 4-cylinder engine was replaced with a 2.5L straight-6, producing as much as 170 hp. Curiously, this BMW model was badged as the '2.3'.

Outside of North America a 2.0L straight-6 was used instead of a 1.9L 4-cylinder. All of the engines were replaced when the car was freshened for a few years later; more precisely in 2001. The range now consisted of the 2.2 L M54B22 (available outside of North America), 2.5 L M52B25, 3.0 L M52B30, and (for the M Roadster) 3.2 L S54B32. All three of these straight-6 engines lasted through the end of the car's run the year after. Except for the plastic window, the whole interiors were refurbished.

Other problems of the Z3 model reported were bad oxygen sensors, the plastic water pump and a rear shock mount that failed. The retro styling though, was more popular and the Z3s have held their value fairly well in the resale market.

M Roadster
From 1998 to 2002, the Motorsports division of BMW produced the well known model M Roadster. This model included suspension upgrades and the engine from the BMW M3. A 3.2L S52 motor was there in the as early as in 1998 as well as 1999, and 2000 M roadster along with a quad exhaust. The models after the millennium change, in other words the 2001 and 2002 models had the S54 motor from the E46 M3 as well as interior upgrades with additional gauges in the center console. A lighted M shift knob, various chrome bits throughout the cockpit and sport seats were also part of the standard equipment. There were also many exterior changes, like larger wheels spaced further apart and more aggressive fenders than were installed on the regular Z3. It was also an option to have hardtops.
About the Author

Terry Bolton is a writer and internet publisher who likes to publish automotive articles containing convertible autos. Read more at the website Convertibles.

Memphis Offers Activities for Kids and Adults

By and large, holiday resorts have one feature in common-- they cater to kids or adults, never both. Even if they offer options for both adults and children, usually both groups remain dissatisfied with the results. Either the adults have to amuse themselves with childish activities, or the kids get bored doing adult things.

However, Memphis, Tennessee, is a welcome change from the rest. It offers a whole lot of activities for children and adults. So, if you are planning a family holiday, you must consider Memphis. You and your kids will find plenty to do by way of hiking and biking. Or you can go for rides that are equally enjoyable for kids and adults. Basically, there are ample outdoor activities for the whole family in Memphis.

Children and parents alike will love taking a ride down the mighty Mississippi River using the River Walk. Visitors are treated to the rare pleasure of following this major river upstream and it is sure to be an adventure that they will cherish for the rest of their lives.

History buffs will absolutely fall in love with the sheer possibilities that a trip to Memphis offers its visitors. The Memphis Belle, the infamous bomber made so by the Hollywood movie of the same name, is on display for all to see when they visit this historic and vibrant city.

The mighty Graceland is steeped in all the magic and history that surrounds it. This great mansion has been preserved exactly as it was when the King was alive. It was made famous by Elvis Presley and millions of fans go to Graceland every year to take part in the annual candlelight vigil held on August 16th-- the anniversary of the King's death.

Heard of a group of ducks taking a ride down the elevator for a feed at the grounds? That's the famous Peabody Hotel which has dedicated its roof as a home for these spoilt ducks. This spectacle, which happens around 10 am each day, is a sight to remember for both adults and kids. This hotel is a popular spot for tourists and local big shots that visit the hotel very frequently.

The Libertyland Amusement Park is a great attraction for the children. The adults can find other forms of entertainment close by. It is known for its vintage 1909 carousel. In addition, it offers visitors lots of midway games, rides, and shows that take place there each night. The Children's Museum of Memphis also offers a host of entertaining and educational activities to keep children entertained. It is a great option when the weather is not conducive for a visit to the park.

And honestly, the list just goes on and on. The fact remains that Memphis is one of those rare places where absolutely everyone can find something exciting to do. Before you plan your next trip to the Memphis area, be sure to check into the wide assortment of activities offered by this exciting town before trying to decide which ones to see this year, and which ones to visit when you return--and believe me, you will return!
About the Author

Science vs. Healers

Sherry (My ex) had a couple of problems of a medical nature. Her hypoglycemia had been miss-diagnosed and she had been given massive cortisone shots that I believe had contributed to the cancer that resulted in the partial mastectomy. I got her off caffiene and through the power of LOVE she was healed in two years. Women are not treated as men are when it comes to medical treatment; as well as every other aspect of misogyny in society. My studies of wholistics and hermetics were becoming quite extensive and alchemy founded and continues the real science. I am going to quote two authors from quite different sides of the fence.

Sherry (My ex) had a couple of problems of a medical nature. Her hypoglycemia had been miss-diagnosed and she had been given massive cortisone shots that I believe had contributed to the cancer that resulted in the partial mastectomy. I got her off caffiene and through the power of LOVE she was healed in two years. Women are not treated as men are when it comes to medical treatment; as well as every other aspect of misogyny in society. My studies of wholistics and hermetics were becoming quite extensive and alchemy founded and continues the real science. I am going to quote two authors from quite different sides of the fence.

These books are recent but representative of the studies I was engaged in as well as giving the reader an insight to the continuing problem of censorship and supposed 'expertise' that prevents a great deal of truth. David Depew and Bruce Weber of MIT wrote 'Darwinism Evolving' in 1995 and it says on pages 492 & 493:

They also made it harder for the scientific worldview to be received with equanimity by other sources of culture. Indeed, since the reducing impulse undermines fairly huge tracts of experience, people like Wallace, who feel deeply about protecting phenomena they regard as existentially important, frequently conclude that they have no alternative except to embrace spiritualism, and sometimes even to attack the scientific worldview itself, if that is the only way to protect important spheres of experience that have been ejected from science's confining Eden.

In response, scientists and philosophers who feel strongly about the liberating potential of a spare, materialistic worldview began to patrol the borderlands between the high-grade knowledge scientists have of natural systems and the low-grade opinions that in the view of science's most ardent defenders, dominate other spheres of culture and lead back toward the superstitious and authoritarian world of yester-year. 'Demarcating' science from other, less cognitively worthwhile forms of understanding was already a major feature of Darwin's world. A line beyond which the Newtonian Newton was a Rosicrucian who achieved the status of an alchemist per Haeffner's 'Dictionary of Alchemy') paradigm could not apply was drawn at the boundary between physics and biology. We have seen how hesitant Darwin was to cross that line and what happened when he did. Twentieth-century people are sometimes prone to congratulate themselves for being above these quaint Victorian battles. They may have less reason to do so, however, than they think, for the fact is that throughout our own century, the same sort of battles with emotional overtones no less charged, have been waged at the contested line where biology meets psychology, and more generally where the natural sciences confront the human sciences. Dualisms between spirit and matter, and even between the mind and body, may have been pushed to the margins of respectable intellectual discourse. But methodological dualisms between what is covered by laws and what is to be 'hermeneutically appropriated' are still very much at the center of our cultural, or rather 'two cultural', life. Cognitive psychologists and neurophysiologists are even now busy reducing mind- states to brain-states, while interpretive or humanistic psychologists are proclaiming how meaningless the world would be if mind is nothing but brain. Interpretive anthropologists are filled with horror at what would disappear from the world if the rich cultural practices that seem to give meaning to our lives were to be shown to be little more than extremely sophisticated calculations on the part of self-interested genes. Conflicts of this sort would have given Darwin stomachaches almost as bad as the ones he endured over earlier demarcation controversies.

These authors use the term hermeneuts much as the early 20th Century supposed scientists ridiculed the quantum physicists by calling them 'atom-mysticists'. Hermeneuts is a new epithet for alchemists such as myself who OBSERVE and try to fit ALL the facts together and don't eject anything 'from science's confining Eden'. This quote continues to raise the spectre of the 'Bible Narrative' and Bishop Ussher whose late nineteenth century proponent was Wilberforce.

The rhetorical pattern of these battles is still depressingly similar, in fact, to Huxley's confrontation with Wilberforce. Hermeneuts ridicule scientists like Hamilton, Dawkins, and Wilson when they suggest that nothing was ever known about social cooperation until biologists discovered kin selection. Reductionists in turn criticize hermeneuts, now transformed largely into 'culturists', for bringing back ghosts and gods, just as their nineteenth-century predecessors were taxed with being 'vitalists' every time they said something about the complexity of development. Humanists identify scientists with an outdated materialistic reductionism. Scientists insist that hermeneutical intentionality is little more than disguised religion.

Perhaps, a way out of this fruitless dialectic between the 'two cultures', can be found if each party could give up at least one of its cherished preconceptions. It would be a good thing, for example, if heirs of the Enlightenment Credited to Bacon, Shakespeare, Jonson and others with an alchemical background. would stop thinking that if cultural phenomena are not reduced to some sort of mechanism, religious authoritarianism will immediately flood into the breach. They should also stop assuming that nothing is really known about human beings until the spirit of reductionism gets to work. Students of the human sciences have, after all, been learning things alongside scientists ever since modernity began. Among other things they have learned that humans are individuated as persons within the bonds of cultures and cultural roles, they are bound together with others in ways no less meaningful and valuable than the ways promoted by strongly dualistic religions. By the same token, it would be helpful if advocates of the interpretive disciplines would. abandon a tacit assumption sometimes found among them that nature is so constituted that it can never accommodate the rich and meaningful cultural phenomena humanists are dedicated to protecting, and that therefore cultural 'ought never' to be allowed to slip comfortably into naturalism. Humanists seem to have internalized this belief from their reductionist enemies, whose commitment to materialism is generally inseparable from their resolve to show up large parts of culture, especially religion, as illusions. These opponents, we may safely say, take in each other's laundry.

I wonder if these authors and their reductivist buddies are aware that all humanists are not without the ability to incorporate hard physical science to an even higher factual degree than they do. The quantum physicists like Wigner (Nobel laureate), Schrdinger and Heisenberg think that humanistic richness is robbed by reductionist unspiritual thinking. The global reifying thrust of materialism (Dr. Boddy of U of T, anthropology) is hopefully, in due course, going to return to a global deifying thrust of spiritualism. The only REALITY is NATURE and it assuredly includes ALL observable facts not just the 'Toilet Philosophy'.

If I may be allowed to quote someone who tries to keep an 'open mind' and use WHATEVER WORKS even if it isn't 'modernity'. I choose to quote a wholistic doctor by the name of Zoltan Rona who has his M.D. and M. Sc. He edited the 'Encyclopedia of Natural Healing' in 1997 which says on pages 33 and 34:

It is misleading to call the natural health movement alternative medicine as is often done. Natural Medicine is considered the founder of contemporary Western medicine. What we now call modern medicine is actually an aberration, the result of social change at the dawn of industrialization in the eighteenth century.

He continues to discuss one of the greatest alchemists of all time whose books I found contain the key to understanding how to make the Philosopher's Stone. He does not identify Paracelsus as an alchemist due to cultural bias against alchemy that has led to many of them being burned at the stake. He says on pages 34 & 35:

PARACELSUS (1493-1541)
At the close of the Middle Ages, Paracelsus dared to challenge the orthodox medicine of his day, which, like today, had abandoned the teachings of Hippocrates Another alchemist. and become bogged down in superstitious, dogmatic practices. With the dramatic successes he achieved through observation and deduction to discover nature's latent healing powers, Paracelsus revolutionized medicine for centuries.

Born Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim He used some other names in conjunction with these such as Phillipus Aureolus. in Switzerland, this courageous genius had the early opportunity to accompany his father, a physician, on his rounds. He learned the value of observation and became acquainted with herbs and medicinal plants. In his university years, Paracelsus appreciated the critical spirit which reigned in Ferrara, Italy, compared to the close-mindedness in universities in other European cities. He was not content to limit himself to academic knowledge. He learned what he could practically from professionals and anyone else who had something to teach him about how to use the latent forces in nature. Due to his healing successes, notably in treating the plague, he began to gather a large following.

After returning to Basle, Switzerland, Paracelsus saved the leg of the rich printer Frobenius from amputation by applying his knowledge of nature's inner healing power. Paracelsus became Basle's official physician and was offered a professorship at the University of Basle. He soon ran into trouble with the authorities due to his blatant criticism of modern medicine. In a dramatic gesture Paracelsus burned the books of the medical authorities. Within several months he was forced to flee the university and found himself wandering penniless. . For the next eight years he lived with friends 'and worked on his manuscripts. The publication of DIE GROSSE WUNDANTZNEY in 1536 restored his reputation, and his fortune turned once more. Paracelsus became wealthy and was sought after by noblemen and royalty.

His actions against the sins and demons origins of disease and illness mirror the free medicine and knowledge of the Gnostic Cathars a couple of centuries earlier that led to their genocide in a crusade that was won by the new head of the Dominican Order of the Catholics. Man, Myth, and Magic promotes the MYTH that alchemy was dominated by hermits in pursuit of wealth and gold from lead. They say that Paracelsus was poor and proof that no Philosopher's Stone was ever created and that alchemists were greedy failures. This author says 'Paracelsus became wealthy' but that assuredly was not his purpose and when he died he had only one special goblet to give to someone who he knew understood its value. Continuing to quote Mr. Rona:

Paracelsus attacked the dogmatic belief of modern doctors that the human body is controlled exclusively by the stars and the planets. He insisted upon the right to discover latent powers of nature by daring to use his faculties of observation and imagination. He stressed the healing power of nature, and raged against modern methods, such as wound treatment that prevented natural drainage of bodily fluids.

One of Paracelsus's most important medical discoveries concerned the treatment of syphilis. He maintained that syphilis could be treated with carefully measured doses of poison mercury compounds taken internally. This contradicted all medical opinion of the day, but he was proven right. Paracelsus was the first to show that, if given in small doses, the cause of an illness also cures it. This discovery was an anticipation of the modern practice of homeopathy. In the summer of 1534, Paracelsus cured many people in the plague-infested town of Stertzing by applying the same principle.

At the time of the Plague the Flagellants were part of the Catholic hierarchy; they were burning Jewish people in cities across Europe. Men, women and children were surrounded in their neighborhoods and burned. The genocide in Rwanda that was initiated by the hatred' fostered by the Roman Catholic Church' according to the July 2000 report released by the Organization of African Unity is little different than the holocaust. The Catholic fostered anti-Semitism that was politically useful to Hitler (or Mississippi Senator John Stennis of the House Un-American Activities Committee) who was a Catholic and never ex-communicated; has been used throughout recent history to empower the Empire-builders from the Holy Roman Emperor Constantine to this very day. Yes, I know the Pope has meekly apologized, but the behavior continues. The 'War on Women' founded in the 'original sin' of St. Augustine and formalized at the Council of Carthage in 397 A.D. has far reaching influence across sociological norms in the Judaeo-Christian-Islamic complex. Thus we can see this author correctly uses the word courageous when referring to Paracelsus.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Author of Divere Druids
World-Mysteries.com has many of my books

How to Improve Your Odds when Selling Your Home

Sellers, it is time to polish your presentation if you intend to sell your residential property in today?s changing market. With increasing inventories of unsold homes and the softening of real estate activity in many areas, you will probably be facing greater competition in the marketplace. Knowing what buyers want will greatly improve your chances of making a profitable sale.

Buyers want reasonable asking prices. Gone are the days of multiple offers on overpriced homes, with desperate buyers waiving appraisals, contingencies and inspections in an attempt to win a bidding war. Get professional opinions of the current market value of your home before establishing your asking price. Ask your real estate agent to conduct a comparative market analysis (CMA), evaluating the selling price of nearby properties with similar features and square footage. Also keep in mind that just because the house next door to yours got one price, this does not necessarily mean that there is another buyer out there willing to pay the same for your home. If your agent agrees it is necessary, hire an independent appraiser to establish an objective opinion of value.

Buyers want quality and dependability. With economic conditions in transition, homebuyers are looking for home construction, features and finishing that can withstand the test of time. Classic designs that have proven their popularity tend to be more in demand when market conditions are unpredictable. For example, bamboo and oak flooring and custom-designed kitchen cabinets made of durable fine woods add significantly to a home?s buyer appeal. Neutral wall colors sell better than trendy designer tints or wild wallpaper, because buyers find it easier to visualize their furniture against a neutral backdrop.

Buyers want amenities that offer comfort and convenience. Homes that provide ways to pamper the homeowner are exceptionally attractive. Examples include master suites with his and her bathrooms (or at least his and her sinks), soaking tubs and rainforest showers, private exercise rooms and well-organized walk-in closets. Buyers appreciate homes that have high-speed Internet wiring and multiple phone lines for personal computers and home offices. Amenities that set your home apart from the ordinary will catch the attention of buyers.

Buyers want to work with savvy sellers. During the past several years, homebuyers were at a disadvantage in the hot seller?s markets that dominated Rio Rancho?s real estate climate. They had to study local market conditions, pay attention to economic trends, watch the mortgage interest rates and work intensively with their real estate agents to beat the competition for homes. Such well-informed buyers will not be eager to purchase property from a seller who is out of touch. They will prefer to work with sellers who know what their home is worth, list a property in top showing condition and are willing to give concessions to the buyer when negotiating the terms of the purchase agreement.

Ask your agent for feedback from buyers who visit your home. Selling your home could require you to invest in upgrades or cosmetic improvements such as new carpet, paint, lighting fixtures or hardware. Your real estate agent may suggest deep cleaning, home staging or replacing window coverings. It might take more effort than you anticipated, but placing your home above the competition will help secure the sale.

Sean Remington is a REMAX Platinum Club Member along with a Committee Ambassador - Albuquerque Economic Development. To learn more about Sean or Albuquerque Real Estate, point your browser to Albuquerque Real Estate.

Keeping Abreast of Parasitic Implants!

Keeping Abreast of Parasitic Implants!

When an advisory panel to the Food and Drug Administration recommended
that silicone gel-filled breast implants be reinstated after having
been banned years ago on health concerns, the membership of that panel
got little mention.

That panel was made up of plastic-surgery experts including practicing
plastic surgeons. Are alarm bells ringing for you? One of those
so-called experts was University of Texas plastic surgeon Michael
Miller, who said afterwards: The risks are well-defined and small.
The patient can decide.

But what if the patient is deciding based on false medical risk
evaluations? Implant manufacturer Inamed told the panel that the
rupture rate of its implants was 1.2% for women who had breast
augmentation. Is that true?

Where can you get the truth about breast implants and their impact on
the human body? Not from the manufacturers that make billions of
dollars selling these toxic bags of ego gratification. Not from the US
congress, and definitely not from the mainstream media.

Ilena Rosenthal created and heads the largest breast implant support
group in the world. Their services to those afflicted by implant
problems are just now available again, having been closed for lack of
funding. She says her phone rings daily and her email is overflowing
with painful calls from women realizing too late the web of deceit
plastic surgeons and the silicone manufacturers have woven.

That two day FDA hearing, heard from just such women.

Women like Susan Cunningham, now too sick to work, who told the panel
her body was racked with joint pain after getting silicone implants.
Women like Carolyn Wolf, who got silicone implants in 1971, following
a double mastectomy, and developed blisters on her neck, rheumatoid
arthritis and neurological damage to an eye, as silicone spread
throughout her body. Even today silicone still oozes from her nipples.
She pleaded with the panel: We beg you, please protect the younger
generation. To no avail.

Are these just isolated incidents in an otherwise rosy picture? The
truth will shock you. The implant industry been engaging in the
practice of constructing deliberately false studies run by claimed
independent researchers, some of whom the industry simply buys and
sells.

THE BIG LIE

An outspoken critic of his own profession, Dr Joseph Mercola says
studies never cited by implant proponents tell a far different tale.
Not an over 90% plus success rate --but 90% failure. How has the
industry managed to paint a picture of implant safety that is the
polar opposite of the reality.

The big lie has been achieved by a brilliant, multi million dollar
public relations coup of enormous proportions. That PR lie has been
exposed by media watchdogs such as PR Watch.

They found that among women who got implants for cosmetic reasons,
nearly 21% needed a repeat operation. They found that for years, women
have been lulled into a false belief, that they had a 95% chance of
being rupture free. The contrary is true said the PR Watch report.

Alarming, indisputable evidence was released in October 2000, when the
FDA published one of the few objective studies which revealed that 69%
of these women had at least one ruptured implant, most without any
knowledge of it, in implants over an average of 17 years old. Other
studies have revealed an over 90% chance of rupture within 20 years.

An internal memo by manufacturer Dow Corning --uncovered by
anti-implant activists from the 1990's-- had this sentence by Dow CEO
Dan Hayes: The issue of cover-up is going well from a long-term
perspective.

That cover-up has been orchestrated by the slickest public relations
consultancy in the business, Burson-Marsteller. The tactics have been
low and dirty. An internal memo by the firm wrote Women (including
celebrities) will be trained and testimony will be written for them to
deliver before Congressional committees.

Another internal document describes Burson-Marsteller's grassroots
organizing tactics: Utilize a well-known celebrity who has breast
implants for reconstructive purposes to speak out on the benefits of
them. Utilize spokespeople drawn from women's cancer support groups in
major markets to defend implants by writing letters to the editor,
participating in media interviews, and communicating positive messages
to women's groups in their regions.

It has been a campaign so slick and so prolonged that not only has the
implant industry headed of litigation they once feared would bankrupt
them, but, emboldened has had the sheer gall to force the implants
back on the market. All hail the mighty PR machine.

Too late, reality has struck thousands of ill and disfigured women who
found their cherished breast implants costing them their insurance,
their health, their beauty, their vitality, their families, their
careers, and possibly their lives. The gel even crosses the placenta
to affect the unborn fetus to scar a next generation.

Truth is, implants are a big money earner for plastic surgeons and the
manufacturers. Up to almost a quarter of a million women have their
breasts enlarged every year -and the total is rising. But even those
saline implants are far from safe. In the spring of 2000, when the FDA
approved two saline brands, the agency was already sitting on over
50,000 reports of serious adverse reactions from water-filled
implants.

After the FDA panel recommendation, shares in implant manufacturer
Inamed, soard 23%, driving the closing price to $84, an all-time high.
Oppenheimer analyst Juan Noble, said Inamed will now: e able to
start cannibalizing their own saline implants and make more money.
Interesting choice of word that: cannibalizing

As women implant activists have cautioned cautioned: Women need to
opt out of the consumer society image industry. Don't they just.

This culture has turned them into objects to be consumed by their own
egos, lusted after by infantile males and preyed opon by the profit
hungry body image industry.

A woman is a person --not a product. Accept yourself, be yourself and
for God's sake, take care of yourself. Because the breast implant
industry is a parasite on women and is nothing short of pure
unadulterated evil.

Our guest, Ilena Rosenthal's
Website :www.BreastImplantAwareness.org

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This article is not designed as a substitute for personal medical advice but as a supplement to advice for those wishes to understand more about her condition.

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Do You Know The Risks Associated With Breast Surgery?

Breast surgery is undertaken in two cases:

-Breast augmentation

-Breast reconstruction

Breast Augmentation:-

Breast surgery for breast augmentation involves making a single incision in or near the breast and inserting the implant either between the breast and the chest muscle (sub-glandular placement) or behind the chest muscle (sub-muscular placement).

A second incision can be made in the natural crease under the breast, called the infra-mammary crease approach.

A third approach is to make the incision at the junction of the coloured part around the nipple(areola), and the natural skin, called the peri-areolar approach.

Each of these approaches has its advantages and disadvantages. Which one is utilized on a patient is totally dependent on her natural anatomy, her preferences and what the doctor advises. Breast augmentations use saline-filled implants because of their safety and natural look. Post surgical swelling, pain and discomfort is normal. Most women return to work in about ten - twelve days after surgery.

Breast Reconstruction:-

One of the most valuable surgical procedures used today is breast reconstruction. This is a surgical procedure to bring back the appearance of a breast for women who have had a breast removed (mastectomy) to treat breast cancer. The surgery rebuilds the breast contour and, if desired, the nipple and areola.

Although the reconstructed breast will not have natural sensation, the surgery can give a great result that looks like a breast.

One has the choice of immediate or delayed reconstruction after a surgery.

-Immediate reconstruction or the one stage process involves placing a breast implant directly after mastectomy. Few women are able to go through a one-stage process ? having the implant placed at the time of the mastectomy. In autologous tissue reconstruction, the doctor transfers a section of skin, muscle, fat and blood vessels from one part of the body to the chest to create a new breast mound. The skin and tissue need to be augmented with a breast implant to achieve the desired breast size.

-Delayed reconstruction: It involves placement of a tissue expander that is eventually replaced by an implant.

Reconstructive breast surgery does not interfere with future treatments such as radiotherapy, chemotherapy, or detection of recurrent breast cancer. It also does not increase the risk of recurrence of the breast cancer.

Recovery time is usually six to eight weeks. Risks of bleeding or infection are possible. It may take as long as 1 to 2 years for tissues to completely heal and for scars to fade, but the scars never go away entirely.

Lumpectomy -

Lumpectomy is a surgical treatment method for women who have been diagnosed with breast cancer. This is breast-conserving surgery since the surgeon removes only that part of your breast that contains the tumour (the lump) and some of the normal marginal tissue that surrounds it. If cancer cells are found in the margins, additional surgery (called re-excision) is required. Most women receive five to seven weeks of radiation therapy after lumpectomy, in order to eliminate any remaining cancer cells.

The combination of lumpectomy and radiation is called breast-conservation therapy.

Lumpectomy is a breakthrough surgical procedure for early stage breast cancer with around 50% of women suitable. The location, size, and type of tumour are of importance when considering breast cancer surgery options. Experts agree that since survival rates are equivalent to masectomy, lumpectomy followed by radiation is the preferable treatment for most women with early-stage cancer. For women who have had lumpectomy with clear margins, followed by radiation, the average risk of non-recurrence is between 85-90 percent.

Post surgery precautions:-

-Do not lift anything heavy. Restrain doing repetitive movements (like ironing or vacuuming) with the affected side for at least 4-6 weeks.

-Do not swim or play sports until your scar has healed - about 4-6 weeks.

-Women should wear a well-fitting support bra both day and night for approximately one week after surgery.

-Protect your hand and arm from infection.

-Keep the fluids moving in your operated arm. Do not wear tight sleeves, bracelets, wristwatches or rings on that arm.

-Do exercises to stop swelling and improve circulation. For instance, try squeezing a rubber ball with your hand for a few minutes a day.

Risks associated with lumpectomy:-

-There is usually a loss of sensation in the breast, depending on the size of the lump removed. Some or most of this ability to feel gradually returns.

-After surgery, both the breasts may mismatch in size and shape.

-Seroma - a collection of fluid under the arm occurring about five days after surgery. It is likely to go way in a few weeks or else needs to be drained by doctor.

Risks associated with breast surgery ?

Any surgery involves a certain amount of risk and it is important that the patient understands the underlying risks, before she takes a decision on it.

Complications vary from person to person and every patient experiences her own individual risks, but still the patient should have complete idea about the possible outcomes.

An overview of the possible risks:-

A. Capsular contracture - occurs if the scar or capsule around the implant begins to tighten. This can cause the breast to feel hard. Additional surgery may be required to remove the scar tissue. In some instances, the breast implant may need to be replaced.

B. Infection

C. Difficulty in mammography

D. In many cases, nipples become oversensitive or even numb.

E. Leak or rupture of the implant

F. Hematoma (collection of blood), and seroma (collection of fluid) within the tissue leading to capsular contracture and infection.

G. Wrinkling and rippling of the implant

Read more about Natural Breast Enhancement and other breast care issues at http://www.mysecrethealth.com

Also read more about the Benefits of Natural Breast Enlargement.

Booster Seats Are Not Just For Your Child

Do you have a dog that loves to look out the window but is to small to look out? Then a dog booster seat just might be the answer for you. Dogs want to know where they are going just like people do. If you travel with a little dog you know how they run around trying to look out the window. This can be dangerous to the driver if the dog jumps on your lap while you are in motion.

Dog seats keep your dog in one place
Dog seats raise your dog up so they can see
Dog seats also double as dog carriers

You need your dog to stay in one place when you drive. If you do not, you can get yourself in trouble and in an accident. Little dogs have a tendency to run around if they are not restrained. They get excited and try to see where they are going. Dog booster seats will help confine them in comfort as well as let them see what?s going on.

The purpose of a look out dog booster seat is to give your dog the ability to look out the window and keep it from jumping around. That means you have to buy the right size for your dog. Most pet stores have different size models for you to look at.

The nice thing about most dog carriers is that they double as boosters and carriers. That way you can move your dog from the car to the house with little effort. Some dog boosters also have a place for items like your dogs leash. Just make sure your dog is the right size for the seat.

Most of us pet owners know that our dog is part of the family. We want to make sure they are comfortable and happy. One way to do this is to get a car look out dog booster seat for them. Shop around and find one that fits your dog and your car. You will be happy and your dog will too.

Remember your dog has a natural urge to look out the window. You want to be safe while driving that means your dog should be belted in just like a child. A booster dog look out seat just might be an answer. There many different models and sizes for every dog. If you have a large dog you should be looking into a dog safety strap.

For more articles like this one go to Booster Seats and more.

Debbie Dee is a work at home mom who has 3 children and 2 dogs. She writes for Articles on babies and runs her own baby shop online.

5 Reasons to Use Yoga to Battle Modern Day Stresses

While many people have always thought of Yoga as some mystic Hindu practice, that image is rapidly disappearing ? almost as fast as the stresses of our modern lives are increasing. The American Academy of Family Physicians has noted that stress related symptoms prompt two-thirds of the office visits to family physicians. Exercise and alternative therapies are now commonly prescribed for stress-related complaints and illness. Even a recent issue of Consumer Reports suggests Yoga for stress relief.

As an effective method of stress management, yoga is spreading into the business world, the helping professions, nursing and old age homes. It is also being used in the treatment of alcoholics, hyperactive children and youngsters with learning disabilities. Yoga centers are getting stiff competition from adult education classes of community colleges, boards of education and parks and recreation departments.

There are many kinds of yoga to study, and there can be endless years of practice for the willing student. Many of the problems suffered in modern life can be erased by following a regular yoga routine.

Reasons to practice Yoga

1. Yoga can release the tense muscles caused by hours of sitting at a desk.

Yoga differs from other forms of exercise in that it involves motions that don't cause strain on the body. It isn?t an aerobic exercise, but it uses almost every muscle in your body. Over time, your limbs are strengthened ? helping to combat the aches and pains caused by our sedentary lifestyles.

2. Mediation during Yoga can enhance concentration.

Breathing deeply can improve vitality by increasing the amount of oxygen that reaches the brain. All forms of yoga incorporate the practice of proper breathing techniques for relaxation, to rest the mind from its constant chatter, to experience an internal calm, and to energize and purify the body.

3. Yoga is fun an easy for children.

Yoga is great fun for children and teenagers and it's easy for them to do, as they are already flexible. Yoga can help them retain that flexibility. It can also help to develop their self-discipline. Practicing yoga is good for developing coordination and can help to improve concentration - which many children and teens find difficult.

4. Yoga is the ideal exercise during pregnancy.

Practicing yoga can improve backache and help to lift depression. Many women who practice yoga have said that it helped to make their labor easier and shorter. The meditation side of yoga is also calming and centering during pregnancy.

5. Yoga can combat feelings of anxiety and depression.

Practicing yoga can alter your brain chemistry. Some yoga positions in particular are effective in stimulating the pituitary gland to release endorphins and to reduce the level of cortisol (the stress hormone).

Many people beginning to practice yoga as stress management may feel unsure if they are doing it right. Trust yourself and trust the process and let it develop. Keep your focus on what is happening in each moment. As stress levels in our society reach new heights, yoga can provide you with the means for handling stress, diffusing tension and increasing the quality of your life!

Barbara House is the founder of Really Busy People, http://www.reallybusypeople.com - a website dedicated to providing current news, informative articles, time-saving products & services to simplify your hectic, busy lifestyle. ? 2007 Really Busy People. All Rights Reserved.

Condo Hotels: The Math

The SEC has legitimate concerns about some condo hotel developers selling units in their projects based solely on the 'forward looking investment potential'. If developers were left unchecked, with a pile of spreadsheets touting income potential, every condo hotel unit in the country might cash flow at remarkable levels, on paper, and every small real estate investor would have a PhD in condo hotel lingo. This is the fear.

I believe we are not giving the consumer enough credit, but I understand the fear. ADR, Occupancy, RevPar, the language of the hospitality industry can appear sexy at first glance. Nightly rates, rack rates and Average Daily Rate (ADR) can vary widely. Occupancy at a hotel has so many variables. Hotel management is one part science, and one part art, but it is all business. Real estate salepeople and developers are not licensed to sell business interests and this is the crux of the dilemna.

SEC rules require that securities or business interests are sold with complete and proper disclosure, but disclosure is such a slippery slope. Afterall so many other real estate properties are sold for their investment potential, like apartment buildings and warehouses, why are condo hotels treated more conservatively?

Consumers, while on vacation, buy condo hotel, not savvy seasoned investors. Again, I think we are giving the consumer far too little credit and information.

Consumers who look to purchase a condo hotel, are told to consider it just as simple real estate. To attempt to ignore the rental income potential and make their purchase more like a second home or vacation residence. But the income potential is still a large part of the decision. When the consumer is told by the real estate sales representation that they cannot in any way discuss income or income potential, time and again the consumer feels something is being withheld. I have witnessed as the potential condo hotel buyer asks why?

The consumer deserves an open dialog about risks and rewards in condo hotel ownership. Attempts are being made to create a firewall between real estate sales and hotel rental management departments but it is still disjointed and spooks consumers trying to understand their purchase decisions.

As CPAs, financial advisors, bankers and other trusted consultants better understand this new real estate product, its potential and risks the gap in the information for the consumer can be bridged.

Bob Waun
CEO
Vacation Finance
waun@vacation-finance.com

Vacation Finance, America's First Second Home Lender is an innovator in condo hotel mortgage lending and has been a leader in educating consumers and developers in the risks and rewards of this new product. Vacation Finance also offers a full line of mortgage products for fractional, true condo hotel, non-warrantable condos, vacation land and timeshare.

Reach Your Goals Make A Game Out Of It

Make a game out of reaching your goals

Go to a yard sale and pick up a cheap board game, if you don't have any hrow away games at home. Sit down and brainstorm a way to transform the game into goal-completion fun. Use contact paper to cover the old instructions or commands, and write in new ones with a permanent marker. Use stickers, arts and craft supplies, etc., to dress up the game to fit your needs. Then set the game up somewhere out of the way to play on an on-going fashion until you reach your goal.

Use drinking games as a source of inspiration - for example, you might decide that whenever David Letterman takes a sip from his mug during his show, you have to do a set of crunches or iron a piece of clothing.

Create a Wheel of Fortune spinner (you can re-decorate an old board game spinner) and spin it every morning to discover your mini-goal for the day.

Set up a game board on the fridge and move magnetic pieces that represent various goals ahead one square for every task or mini-goal you complete on the way to the big finale.

If several of you are working toward a common goal, hold casino nights at home or at work, where you bet goal-related tasks (keeping score on paper) and forfeit what you lose. For instance, if you have bet twenty crunches, a mile's walk and skipping two desserts on a losing hand of poker, you have to do everything you bet. You can also write such tasks on poker chips with permanent marker and then claim the forfeits you have in your stash after the game ends during the period between games.

Combine two or more examples for real fun!

(c) Soni Pitts

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Soni Pitts is the Chief Visionary Butt-Kicker of SoniPitts.Com. She specializes in helping others reclaim soul proprietorship in their lives and to begin living the life their Creator always intended for them.

She is the author of the free e-book 50 Ways To Reach Your Goals and over 100 self-help and inspirational articles, as well as other products and resources designed to facilitate this process of personal growth and spiritual development.

By Soni Pitts

How Effective Are Car Seat Clinics?

Recent studies found out that car seat clinics are successful in helping parents and caregivers properly restrain children in back seats. However, there is a need to exert more effort to reach underserved communities.

One of the recent studies about car seat clinics has been conducted by Safe Kids Worldwide and this research includes 29 states in February 2005. Based on the study, it was revealed that car seat clinics have efficiently persuaded parents and caregivers in promoting safety measures for children. According to Safe Kids, parents have successfully changed their behavior and retained their child passenger safety knowledge six weeks after receiving hands-on instruction. At the second checkup, researchers discovered an additional 45 percent seats installed by parents.

Child safety seats, if properly installed and used, could reduce the risk of injuries by 71 percent for infants and 54 percent for toddlers. Also, injuries for children using belt-positioning booster seats are decreased by 59 percent. As a fact, over 70 percent of child safety seats are improperly installed. That aspect should be corrected to ensure maximum safety.

The study also found out that the checkups disproportionately reached highly educated parents or white parents as opposed to less educated or ethnically diverse families. We need to do more to reach the communities that need our help the most, said Lorrie Walker, training and technical manager for Safe Kids Worldwide. Safe Kids' network of more than 600 coalitions and chapters in the United States has the flexibility and skills to meet the needs of each community we serve.

Safe Kids are working to install more permanent inspection stations in economically disadvantaged areas to serve more people. The group?s Buckle Up program is financed by several supporters and the largest so far is General Motors Corp. Safe Kids has tools in place to help educate families of all backgrounds, said Bob Lange, GM's executive director of Structure and Safety Integration. We need to keep working to reach high-risk groups of parents with communication and training to keep their children properly restrained every time on every trip.

Underrepresented in the latest study are families with older children. Those who participated in check up events ranges from ages four and under. Experts recommend that kids who have outgrown car seats ride on booster seats. This should be done until they are about four feet, nine inches tall and 80 to 100 pounds. Usually, children reach this height and weight when they are between the ages of eight and twelve.

In the event of a crash, a belt-positioning booster seat and safety belt provide better protection for most tweens than the adult safety belt alone, Walker said. Children in this age group are among the least likely to be in the correct restraint. We need to make booster seat use among tweens who need them just as automatic as it is for small children to ride in car seats.

The program turned out to be successful. It has taught parents to use child safety seats that meet federal standards. These guidelines reduced the number of inappropriate seats used at the second event, weeding out many secondhand seats that do not have a known history or seats that are more than six years old.

Car owners may be putting much of their attention to Volvo radiators, Chevy rotors or Ford engines but one thing that they should not neglect is the efficiency of car seats for their children.

Glady Reign is a 32 year old is a consultant for an automotive firm based in Detroit, Mi. she is a native of the motor city and grew up around cars hence her expertise in the automotive field.

Real Estate And The Media

The role of the media is to report news and opinions, not to make predictions and forecasts.

Predictions and forecasts are better left to the storytellers and the experts respectively. Specifically when it comes to important fields such as Real Estate, it would be ideal if media reporting were as objective and as analytical as possible, for the common good. Unfortunately this is not always the case, at least not when it comes to the general media. We would surely expect to see stories about Real Estate featured in the financial press, such as The Wall Street Journal in the U.S.A., the Financial Post in Canada or The Financial Times in the U.K.

On the other hand, when a feature article on the real estate markets appears in general-circulation publications the likes of Time, Newsweek, MacLeans or U.S. News and World Reports we should take note because the story has begun to circulate well beyond the inner core of the usual financial circles. This may indeed reflect the fact that the general public may be about to imitate the ?experts'. The interesting thing about such stories is that they invariably occur after a substantial price movement has already taken place or price tend, whether upward or downward, has initiated. The article may explain why prices have increased or decreased so much thereby reflecting conventional wisdom, and hence dispensing onto the general public some powerful reasons as to why they should buy or sell, as the case may be.

When market stories reach the front pages of general-purpose newspapers or the covers of magazines and publications, the implications are far greater than if the stories appear solely in the financial press. Independent studies have revealed, for example, that there is a significant correlation between Time cover stories and major trend reversals in both Real Estate and the Stock Market. According to statistical research, the appearance of the story breaks pretty close to the final peak. In the Stock Market, for example, when a bullish cover is featured the market usually rallies at an annualized rate of about seventeen percent for three months or four before the peak. Conversely, when bearish covers are featured, the decline begins within the subsequent couple of months.

Needless to say, the media has an impact on Real Estate as well, but only at major turns of the market. It would be unrealistic to expect a widely published story to signal a short-term turning point. This is so, because to make the front cover of a publication the article has to reflect news to which more or less everyone can relate.

Cover stories sometimes focus on interest rates. In March 1982, for example, an article entitled ?Interest Rate Anguish' appeared on the cover of Time featuring Paul Volcker, the then Chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank. Treasury bills were yielding 12.5 percent at the time, but a year later they had fallen to 8.5 percent. And so had mortgage rates. Likewise, cover stories that do not appear to have any direct bearing on Real Estate, but that refer to the general state of the economy can also help discern the markets' mood. For instance, features about the President in the United States or the Prime Minister in Canada can often reveal how we think about ourselves. Covers reflecting upbeat and confident leaders typically reflect a similar mood in the country. The opposite is also true.

But here is where the analogy between Real Estate and the Stock Market diverge. If the nation, whether the United States or Canada, either directly or indirectly through its elected officials is reflected in a cover story as ebullient and confident, then expect the Stock Market to decline and Real Estate to pick up. On the other hand, if the story reflects a lack of national confidence and will tackle its seemingly insoluble problems, then expect Real Estate to decline and the Stock Market to pick up.

It must be said, however, that one should not rely on cover stories with mathematical precision. It is always important to examine the facts and to come up with various alternative forecasts, as cover stories cannot invariably be relied upon as exact timing devices, especially in Real Estate. They do, however, offer general indicators that give a good historical perspective of when an extreme has been reached, whether high or low. When all pieces are more or less consistent, it is possible to come up with credible scenarios and forecasts outlining with reasonable approximation the chances that Real Estate is about to reverse its prevailing trend.

Luigi Frascati is a Real Estate Agent based in Vancouver, British Columbia. He holds a Bachelor Degree in Economics and maintains a weblog entitled the Real Estate Chronicle where you can find the full collection of his articles on Real Estate Economics and Finance. Luigi is associated with the Sutton Group, the largest real estate organization in Canada, and is based with Sutton-Centre Realty in Burnaby, BC.

Luigi is very proud to be an EzineArticles Platinum Expert Author. Your rating at the footer of this Article is very much appreciated. Thank you.

Back To School With Newly Empowered Student Laptops

Some new offerings for Intel and Nvidia will put more punch in your new student laptop. See why going back to school with one of these empowered laptops will turn a few heads...

Copyright (c) 2008 Titus Hoskins

Within the last several months we have seen some major developments in laptop technology that will greatly increase the usefulness of laptops for college students. Both Intel and Nvidia have introduced new products which will improve laptop performance immensely.

New Intel Centrino 2 Platforms

First, Intel has introduced its next generation processors which uses 45nm technology with hafnium-infused circuitry. These new Intel Montevina Centrino 2 Platforms offer greater performance and better energy efficiency.

For example, Intel's new X9100, a 3.06GHz 45nm dual-core mobile processor uses 1066MHz FSB and has 6MB L2 cache - more than enough power or performance for the most demanding tasks students can throw at it.

New Nvidia High-End Graphics Cards

Second, Nvidia has released new mobile cards in its series 9 product line which will greatly impove the performance of laptops.

Nvidia which is considered one of the top Graphics Card makers in the world has announced it is introducing five more high-end Cards: GeForce 9700M GT, 9700M GTS, 9800M GTS, 9800M GT and the 9800M GTX.

These cards will have DirectX 10 graphics, Hybrid SLI support and will sport the new PureVideo HD video processing which is compliant with MXM 3.0 Graphics module specs. These are top-notch cards with the 9800M GTX sporting a whopping 128 Processing Cores.

These GPUs will no doubt put some more added punch in the latest gaming laptops but they will also improve the performance level of student laptops especially for those college students who major in computer programming, media or video, graphic design or architecture... we tend to forget, top-level graphics is not always used for gaming. Parents take note!

What To Look For When Buying A Student College Laptop

If you're buying a student laptop for yourself or for a son or daughter there are certain things you should consider before plunging down your hard earn cash. Just some things you should look for in a high quality student laptop.

1. Sturdy

You must have a laptop which is sturdy and tough in order to survive in the sometimes harsh student environment. Make sure your chosen laptop can take all that punishment - you might even consider a ruggedized notebook.

2. Portable

Many students go for a small compact laptop which can be neatly tucked under the arm or in a backpack. Long battery life is also important if you're going to be taking your laptop to all your classes. Also make sure it has all the necessary wireless connections so that the Internet is available wherever you go.

3. Performance

As we have just read above, laptops are becoming more powerful and offer greater performance than ever before. You should have no problem finding a student laptop that will meet all your computer or multi-tasking needs. However, a prudent laptop buyer should always check the type of Processor (CPU), how much RAM, Hard Drive size and the OS (Operating System) of any laptop you choose to buy.

4. Cheap Laptops

Lets face it, for most students, money is often very limited so buying a high quality, yet economical laptop is a must. Fortunately, laptop prices have been steadily dropping so finding a laptop you can afford should not be a problem. You can also consider a used or refurbished laptop.

5. Theft and Security

One of your top concerns should be theft and security when buying a student laptop. You can now get many security measures such as fingerprint entry - some now even have face recognition software as seen in the new Lenovo laptops. You can also invest in a good Laptop cable lock which will keep your laptop a little more secure. Plus, you can also check out Anti-Theft software such as LoJack which can track and locate your stolen laptop thru the IP address once it's used to access the web.

So if you're in the market for a student laptop just keep some of these points in mind when you're shopping around for that special laptop. Also remember to look for all that new mobile technology which will greatly improve the performance level of your next student laptop.

Source: Free Articles from ArticlesFactory.com

ABOUT THE AUTHOR


For more information on Buying Notebooks and Laptops at Bargain Prices Click Here: www.bizwaremagic.com/cheaplaptops.htm
Or here: www.bizwaremagic.com/notebookforstudents.htm2008 Titus Hoskins. This article may be freely distributed if this resource box stays attached.

16 Essential Safety Tips For Your Baby

It has been shown statistically that the majority of accidents to newborns and infants are totally preventable. What it takes is for every new parent to be aware of the risk factors for newborns, and taking active steps to prevent it. You need to arm yourself with valuable knowledge in the care of your baby.

Here are 16 basic safety precautions which every new parent must know:

1. Do not put baby to bed with a bottle. Babies can choke or acquire ear infections, tooth decay and other dental troubles from having something in their mouths overnight.

2. For neck support, and because a newborn cannot sit up, roll a towel or get a support pillow that goes around the newborn's head. You'll use this in the car seat, stroller and wind-up swing. As newborns cannot sit up yet, many umbrella strollers - the easy folding, simple-looking, portable one-seat strollers do not give newborns the support they need, or are not sufficiently padded. Hence the support pillow.

3. Ensure your stroller has seat belts and crotch straps and that you use them. Strollers should have a wide base to prevent tipping and brakes that work.

4. Do not have aspirin around for children. It's been linked with Reye's Syndrome, which can be fatal. Never give a newborn something the pediatrician has not recommended, anyway.

5. Do not use (or minimize) baby powder or talcum on a newborn because it can be inhaled into the baby's lungs.

6. Never tie a pacifier or any other objects on a string around a baby's neck. Don't use homemade pacifiers. Check pacifiers and nipples frequently to ensure the nipple-part can't be sucked off and swallowed, and see that it has no holes or tears. The guard or shield around the nipple of the pacifier should be larger than the baby's mouth and should have ventilation holes so the baby could breathe if it did get in there, anyhow.

7. Keep toys on strings, drapery cords, laundry bags or other objects with strings off the baby cot and away from newborns to prevent strangulation. Mobiles on cribs should be securely fastened and not have long strings. Remove them before the child can reach them.

8. The slats of the crib should be no wider than 2 3/8 inches apart. Be sure to check, especially if using an antique, hand-me-down or secondhand crib. Mattresses should fit tightly up against the sides and there should be no corner posts.

9. Install a smoke detector in the baby's room or nursery.

10. If you have a playpen or portable crib with mesh sides, never use it with a side left down. Newborns could roll into the mesh pocket and suffocate. Better yet, don't use mesh-sided playpens.

11. Never, not even once, take your baby in the car without him or her being strapped in the car seat, and the car seat properly belted in the car according to manufacturer's directions. And never use a carrier device or sling-type seat as a car seat, unless it is specifically designed for this purpose. A low impact crash may not hurt an adult, but can prove fatal to an unsecured newborn.

12. Baby changing tops should have safety straps and/or railings to prevent the baby from falling off.

13. Do not use honey in any food or on the pacifier for babies not yet a year old. It can cause infant botulism.

14. Remove unnecessary objects from the crib, bassinet or playpen when baby sleeps to prevent suffocation. That means no pillows, stuffed animals or floppy toys. Don't cover the crib mattress in anything like a plastic garbage bag, dry cleaning bag or light plastic sheet. These can block a newborn's breathing in the event that the baby end up with its face down.

15. Crib or play gyms should be used only until the child is old enough to pull up and push up on hands and knees. Remove the gym when the baby is sleeping. You may wish to use this only on the floor, with baby lying on a soft blanket.

16. Keep small toys away from small babies. Toys go automatically into mouths and choking can, and does, result. Be especially careful of older toys with parts that can be pulled off, like teddy bear eyes, or parts that can break into small pieces.
About the Author

ChampBaby is a premier online baby guide, with expert articles on baby gifts, baby shower, breast feeding, and baby names suggestions. Visit http://www.champbaby.com to claim a free copy of Baby's First Year, a precious ebook for all new parents.