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Showing posts from January, 2020

A very foreign life

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My daily life in Nara is itself a curious artifact, belonging toa kind of existence that even I could not have imagined only adecade ago, before "home office" fax machines and Global Villagemodems, with international telephones on every other streetcorner, made centrifugal lives possible. In terms of the world Igrew up in, almost none of it makes any sense, but in terms ofthe world we're entering, it forms the outlines of a completesentence.I go to sleep here every day by 9:00 p.m., in part so as to wakeup at 5:00 a.m., when my employers (thirteen time-zones away) areat their desks (their office hours stretching from 11:00 p. m. to7:00 a. m. , Nara time). My rese arch facility, if I need to check on something,is an English language bookstore ninety minutesaway by train, and my version of the Internet is a copy of theWorld Almanac. The person I see most often, outside my immediatehousehold, is the Federal Express boy who comes to collect anddeliver packages from distant...

Convert your Bedroom into a 5-Star Luxury Hotel Suite

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googletag.display("div-ad-articleLeader");Whenever I travel, I like to use Hotwire to find the best deals on 4 and 5-star hotel rooms.  I have been keeping a list of what I like most about these luxury hotel rooms and provide the following guide for turning your own bedroom into a 5-star suite.  In developing this list, I am drawing heavily on the bedroom of the W hotel at Times Square in New York, the technology of the Aria in Las Vegas, and the en suite of the Ritz Carleton in Hong Kong.  The best part of following this guide is that you will not need to steal the bathrobe upon checkout!The BedroomGeneral DecorI love the clean design of vango the bedroom at the W Hotel in Times Square.  It always feels fresh and the vibe is incredibly hip.  The design is best described as a minimalist chic.  To convert your bedroom: Walls - The paint is a neutral taupe.  In the picture above, the HEX code is A8A385.  The cost of 2 cans of paint plus all supplies (brushes, tape, paint rol...

Convert your Bedroom into a 5-Star Luxury Hotel Suite

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googletag.display("div-ad-articleLeader");Whenever I travel, I like to use Hotwire to find the best deals on 4 and 5-star hotel rooms.  I have been keeping a list of what I like most about these luxury hotel rooms and provide the following guide for turning your own bedroom into a 5-star suite.  In developing this list, I am drawing heavily on the bedroom of the W hotel at Times Square in New York, the technology of the Aria in Las Vegas, and the en suite of the Ritz Carleton in Hong Kong.  The best part of following this guide is that you will not need to steal the bathrobe upon checkout!The BedroomGeneral DecorI love the clean design of vango the bedroom at the W Hotel in Times Square.  It always feels fresh and the vibe is incredibly hip.  The design is best described as a minimalist chic.  To convert your bedroom: Walls - The paint is a neutral taupe.  In the picture above, the HEX code is A8A385.  The cost of 2 cans of paint plus all supplies (brushes, tape, paint rol...

Print Yourself or Hire a Professional Printer?

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At first, it seems like a no-brainer: why pay commercial printer prices when you can print out the same projects in your home or office for a fraction of a cost? Especially when you have a color laser printer and /or a larger-format printer, you really are equipped to produce some print jobs in house.Weigh the Pros and ConsSometimes printing in house just doesn't pay. Think about the following when deciding where to get projects printed. Materials costs – Professional printers work on volume. When printing in house, it's easy to gloss over and forget just how much it can cost, because we've usually already paid for the materials and have them on hand.When you print projects commercially, all of these considerations are already included in the cost. Labor – What is the labor cost involved? How many people will be working on the printing project and for how many hours? Do you really want to fold 500 brochures? Do you really want to collate 100 10-page presentations? Sometime...

buy beds and mattresses on credit-pay later-no credit check

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googletag.display("div-ad-articleLeader");Buy Your Designer Mattress Now and Pay For It Later-Deferred Billing Mattresses and Beds Need a merchant or catalog that you can "Buy Beds and Mattresses On Credit and Pay Later With No Credit Check" There are several online and catalog merchants who do sell beds and mattresses on a "now pay later no credit check" basis.  These catalog merchants do things the old way and deal directly with the customers when arranging credit.  Most of the buy now pay later companies and websites do not do a credit check or have a relaxed credit standard. Thus, if classic you have bad credit, no credit or just like their merchandise and want to buy it, with their buy now pay later program, they make it easy. So Who Will Allow Me To Buy Beds and Mattresses On Credit and Pay In Monthly Installments Two of the best online and catalog merchants who deal in Buy now pay later beds and mattresses are Seventh Avenue, and Montgomery Ward. ...

Merger Begins at Home : Abbey-Homedco Deal May Create ...

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In a move that would create the nation's largest provider of home health care services, Abbey Healthcare Group and Homedco Group on Thursday said they have agreed to merge their nationwide operations through an exchange of stock. The proposed combination of the two Orange County companies, whose headquarters are only about a mile apart, comes amid a health care business boom in the wake of government and corporate efforts to cut medical costs. By charging less than hospitals for treating patients at home, the industry has grown about 25% a year and generated nearly $21 billion in sales last year. A merger of Fountain Valley-based Homedco and Abbey Healthcare of Costa Mesa would result in a company with more than $1 billion in sales and a 7% share of the industry. By eliminating overlapping operations and offices, company officials said, they expect to save at least room $40 million to $50 million a year. On Wall Street, investors reacted enthusiastically. Abbey shares soared $7....

canning is easy but pay attention

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Home canning of foods high in acidity is not difficult, but it requires proper equipment and careful attention to directions. The following in for mation has been compiled using the "Ball Blue Book--The Guide to Home Canning and Freezing" and publications on canning from the U.S. Department of Agriculture . Through the process of canning, heat destroys potentially harmful microorganisms and enzymes. At the same time, a partial vacuum is formed and the jar seals, preventing recontamination of the food inside. Foods that contain natural acid, such as fruits, can be safely processed using a water bath canner. This is a large kettle with a rack that fits inside to hold the canning jars separated and off the bottom so heat can penetrate properly. Standard glass canning jars with two-piece vacuum lids should be used. Select Perfect Fruit It's important to select firm, ripe, unblemished produce for canning. Only enough food for one canner load at a time should be prepared. A...

Merger Begins at Home : Abbey-Homedco Deal May Create ...

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In a move that would create the nation's largest provider of home health care services, Abbey Healthcare Group and Homedco Group on Thursday said they have agreed to merge their nationwide operations through an exchange of stock. The proposed combination of the two Orange County companies, whose headquarters are only about a mile apart, comes amid a health care business boom in the wake of government and corporate efforts to cut medical costs. By charging less than hospitals for treating patients at home, the industry has grown about 25% a year and generated nearly $21 billion in sales last year. A merger of Fountain Valley-based Homedco and Abbey Healthcare of Costa Mesa would result in a company with more than $1 billion in sales and a 7% share of the industry. By eliminating overlapping operations and offices, company officials said, they expect to save at least room $40 million to $50 million a year. On Wall Street, investors reacted enthusiastically. Abbey shares soared $7....

canning is easy but pay attention

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Home canning of foods high in acidity is not difficult, but it requires proper equipment and careful attention to directions. The following in for mation has been compiled using the "Ball Blue Book--The Guide to Home Canning and Freezing" and publications on canning from the U.S. Department of Agriculture . Through the process of canning, heat destroys potentially harmful microorganisms and enzymes. At the same time, a partial vacuum is formed and the jar seals, preventing recontamination of the food inside. Foods that contain natural acid, such as fruits, can be safely processed using a water bath canner. This is a large kettle with a rack that fits inside to hold the canning jars separated and off the bottom so heat can penetrate properly. Standard glass canning jars with two-piece vacuum lids should be used. Select Perfect Fruit It's important to select firm, ripe, unblemished produce for canning. Only enough food for one canner load at a time should be prepared. A...

off to a solid start : it took around nine hours and cost $168.94. there's more to be done. but a handy homeowner finds that with planning, he can in one weekend clear several hurdles toward earthquake safety.

As usual, my wife was right. I didn't get it all accomplished in one weekend: It is my list of earthquake safety chores. I decided several weeks ago to bow to the inevitability of another major quake and set about making our house as earthquake safe as my talents and budget would allow. The goal is to reduce the likelihood of valuable possessions being damaged in a quake and to reduce as much as possible the chances that lighting anyone in the house would be injured. When I wrote here of my plans two weeks ago, I'd talked with a home safety inspection specialist to get ideas on what to look for and had made a tour of my home to determine what needed to be done. With that list in hand--chores ranged from fastening the tall cabinet in the living room to bracing boxes in the garage--I spent several evenings at the local home improvement center, wandering the aisles and getting ideas for materials I'd need. After listing each chore and what was needed to accomplish it, I w...

VR Training Next Generation of Workers

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By the time I spotted the shotgun, it was too late. I feel a sting in my thigh. I've been hit. I was distracted by the hysterical wife, while my partner was dealing with a nosy neighbor. We get off thirteen shots, all high, merely grazing the assailant. The simulationcomes to a stop. "Rookie mistakes," says our trainer, Deputy Jose Diaz of the LA County Sherriff's Department. The LASD is a 17,000 man force that policestheendless suburban sprawl outside LA's city dot limits. The shotgun was on the shelf behind the subject the whole time. We missed it. At the controls of the simulator, made by Virtra, James Grady, who operated the branching 360narrativesin real time, smiles. It could have gone another way. The subject could have complied. "What fun would that be?" He asks. The simulator is for advanced officer training. "This is much more realistic than range training," which is also possible with the system. "It gets the heart rate up...

Decorating in Mid-Century Modern StyleDecorating in Mid-Century Modern StyleDecorating in Mid-Century Modern Style

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Fans of the television show Mad Men are very familiar with the Mid-Century Modern Style, though they may not know it. Defined by clean lines, simple designs and durable functionality with space age elan, mid-century modern furniture and accessories were manufactured from about 1945 to 1970 with their iconic look firmly established during the mid-1950s - the Mad men era. The uncomplicated look of this style's décor features geometric patterns, textural fabrics, bold colours and then-modern materials such as melamine, Formica, boldly coloured plastics and vinyl. The style was championed by designers and pop artists such as Andy Warhol, Charles Eames and David Hockney whose space age designs filled North American homes in the postwar era. The current revival has been embraced by fans of 1950s and 1960s chic. To get the look for your home, start with a few pieces of furniture (either original or reproduction) and accessories to complement them. The overall look defines the style,...