Home Kitchen

The benefits of stained glass

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Needless to say, the stained glass windows impress you. Try to imagine a cathedral with nothing in it and you will see! We even hear from others how it reduces stress, calms the soul, and improves mental state.

One advantage is that it can give you privacy or space. Whether it’s spectacular colors or clear, natural sunlight, you can make light shine and illuminate your world. Or, you can create privacy from the outside world without giving up lighting at all. Stained glass windows are successfully used to create any atmosphere, mood, or effect you wish to create.

This is one of the most versatile mediums out there and is commonly incorporated into other mediums such as wood, metal, stone, concrete, and even plastic. In fact, almost any material can be structurally designed with stained glass. It has been successfully incorporated into the design and construction of windows, doors, skylights, domes, railings, cabinets, tables, partitions, lamps, light fixtures, stairs, and decks, to name just a few.

It’s surprisingly durable and ruggedly developed and built to withstand the elements while remaining safe and relatively stable. In fact, it’s even safer and more durable than regular glass or even tempered or laminated glass! Whereas, for example, during an earthquake, those other types of glass would tend to break, with stained glass, lead rods tend to absorb most of the impact, so such breakage rarely occurs. After all, it is considered a functional art form.

Lastly, it’s actually an investment, believe it or not, because it’s an original piece of art. Even the structural parts built into windows, doors, and skylights are permanent fixtures and components of a building. They increase property value and some collectors even remove glass works when they sell their homes! Therefore, the benefits of stained glass windows are many and go far beyond pure aesthetic beauty.

By Simon Simonian
http://www.progressiveartstainedglass.com

© 2009 Simon Simoniano. All rights reserved.

Auto

The classic Lotus Elan is totally unhappy at rest

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The classic Lotus Elan simply begs you to take it out on the open road where it belongs. The élan driver really revels in his ability to zip through a series of challenging corners, best done of course in the early hours of a summer morning with the top down, it’s the kind of car you put yourself in and you take lightly. removing seemingly small increments of steering lock with his fingertips, he lightly brushes the brake pedal and squeezes the throttle and clutch with his toes. Driving an elan requires finesse similar to piloting a light aircraft.

Racing through steep alpine country and hearing the creak and screech of the twin-cam exhaust note bouncing off rock wall cuts at 6500 rpm in the middle gears is an aural mechanical symphony. The brief moments when you resort to disc brakes as you head into a corner, and then tiptoe in second to the apex of the next corner, such is the delight of an ultra-ratio four-speed manual gearbox. narrow with which the élan is equipped.

With a 3.5 to 1 gear ratio, there’s 50mph in the former and just under 70mph in the latter…zero to 100mph in under 30 seconds is always an exhilarating feeling in a classic Lotus sports car. Surprisingly, the elan has the ability to do it all so fast that you’ll often find yourself almost hitting a slow driver on a mundane tin roof with a huge speed differential.

Enthusiasm is proof that you don’t need cubic inches for exhilarating performance; quite the opposite is true, the performance delivered by this small but very willing 1600cc twin-overhead-cam engine when coupled with the ultra-close ratio gearbox is almost incredulous. It has much more performance than one expects from just four cylinders.

Anyone unfamiliar with the joys of driving an Elan, or who never has, would be alarmed, but a lotus elan (most are now over 40 years old) possesses impeccable handling, braking and acceleration skills that in their day were hailed as incredibly outstanding. .. even today a well cared for and maintained Impetus remains a brilliant sports car to own and drive, leaving many modern cars in its wake, such is its racing heritage.

Arguably the classic Elan is truly underrated as an exciting and extremely rewarding high-performance classic sports car, you only need to ask any long-term Elan owner, many of whom have acquired multiple examples to rebuild, maintain and enjoy.

There is a thriving and thriving global aftermarket replacement parts industry serving Elan owners who want to maintain, rebuild, and restore the Elan to better-than-new condition. The classic Lotus Elan is sure to be a highly sought after classic sports car for a long time to come, and if you’ve ever dreamed of owning an elan, you need to act fast to secure yours soon as values ​​are sure to skyrocket anytime soon. .

While the lotus elan is an incredibly rewarding car to own and drive, it’s not without its shortcomings, if you don’t understand the mechanics of the twin-overhead-cam engine, based on the 1600cc Ford block and topped off with a complex twin-cylinder alloy camshaft. head, or don’t have a well-equipped shop where repairs, rebuilds, or fiberglass body repairs can be done, think again, because despite your joy, the momentum may not be for you.

But, if you’re blessed with considerable financial resources, this will give you an alternative to outsourcing service and rebuilds. There are numerous lotus specialists in many countries ready to service and maintain your elan at a reasonable cost, their valuable knowledge and experience has been hard earned through many years of involvement with the classic lotus elan brand.

One of the main enemies of the elan is that of the rear drive train, since the inception of the elan, rubber donuts were used as flexible drive couplings on the rear intermediate shafts, they gave endless problems with breakage once several thousand miles and age had taken effect.

The modern answer to this problem is to install a robust and well-designed CV driveshaft conversion. There is an exceptional driveshaft conversion designed and built in Australia that has attracted many élan owners from around the world for the bulletproof design and build quality provided. This CV driveshaft system will provide years and years of trouble-free elan driving, and the best part is that the average elan owner can easily install the system with no special tools required. Many owners comment on the new driving feel they experience with their elan after the installation of the elantrikbits CV solid driveshaft system.

Digital Marketing

How to improve your web traffic

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The success of any website-related marketing strategy is primarily based on the number of visitors you can attract to your website. Web traffic is therefore a major concern for any webmaster, as the more visitors you attract, the more likely this traffic will convert. There are many ways that can help you get a good amount of traffic to your site; some of which are free and some of which are paid. The following are some strategies that can be used to improve your web traffic.

One approach to getting more visitors to your website is to have dynamic and original content. People are always online looking for information about relationships, services, products, news or general information. Therefore, it is important to have original and relevant content for your target audience. For repeat visits, you need to make sure to keep your content fresh and of good quality.

Link building strategies are also very effective. The web is interconnected and if you link your pages to others on another website, you may end up attracting a more targeted audience. This can be achieved by talking to the owners of other websites, who have services and products that might be of interest to your target audience, to provide a reciprocal link. However, you should be careful about the sites you link to so they don’t have content that harms your target customers.

Online advertising is an approach that many business owners use to create awareness of their products and services. You can bid to show your ads on websites that are most likely to be visited by targeted customers. To get the most out of your advertising strategy, consider giving your customers a good experience on your website so they can easily find what they’re looking for on your website.

Blogs have become very popular in recent times. Many businessmen and even large corporations use blogs to advertise their products and services. If you decide to develop a blog, make sure you have content that is relevant to your blog readers. Similarly, you can use social networks. If you post engaging content, you are more likely to receive traffic. Your followers can also share with many other users in an attempt to create wide awareness.

Search engine optimization is a strategy aimed at improving your search engine ranking. If you rank high in search engines, chances are your customers will click through to your website, as well as those of your competition, which are on the lower pages. An important component of search engine optimization is the choice of keywords. Make sure the keywords you choose flow naturally and are relevant to the content you have.

Another approach is to create a referral program. Referral programs are paid, but it is possible to find one that fits your budget. However, you need to make sure that these referrals are directed at targeted customers.

Getting targeted web traffic is crucial to the success of any online business. There are many strategies you can use to achieve this goal. These include online and off-site advertising, link building, referral programs, and search engine optimization.

Relationship

the teenage meltdown

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Tantrums? Yelling and screaming about homework? Complete lack of interest in school? There are so many changes happening in a teenager’s life, like changing friendships, dating problems, and “awful teachers.” When so many things are uncertain and changing, what can you do to stay calm at home?

For more than a decade, I have experienced the daily treatment of teenagers. As a teacher, I saw the negative side of them coming into my classroom tired, angry, crying, and sometimes ready to fight. Teachers expect a student to focus primarily on education, but that is not always the case. On many occasions, I would experience mini-episodes of a juicy talk show or reality TV show. However, while every teen is different, there are some common themes that come up when seizures occur. Boys generally seem to respond by dissociating or avoiding school responsibilities, while girls may lash out verbally and emotionally.

One of the most common conversations I’ve had with parents of teenagers has to do with worrying about their lack of interest in school. His focus may be on sports, girls, or video games. When we meet as a group, parents just don’t understand why their child isn’t completing homework or studying for tests. What can we do? How can we get it back to normal? When you ask the young person what’s going on, the most common answer I get is, “I don’t know.” And when pressed for a reason for behavior, we often hear, “Fine, whatever. I said I would.”

The girls are a little different. When they walk through the front door of the school, many girls seem to transform into social butterflies. The connections and bonds they develop with other classmates are more important than the activities in the classroom. They often misbehave by dressing inappropriately, leading to school staff asking them to change. This often leads to additional behavior problems, as peer perception is more important than creating a friendly learning environment. Girls often have a revolving door of friendships. At the beginning of the year I always tell them never to share their locker combinations because the people who are your friends this week will probably be your enemies next week. It is a weekly occurrence to see girls crying in the hallway or in class due to a problem with a classmate. When grades start to drop and parents request a conference, the meetings can be intense. Often the response is emotional. On several occasions I have had to remind girls to speak respectfully to parents as girls tend to lash out.

No parent wants to hear, “I hate you.” However, for parents with teenage girls, there’s a good chance they’ll experience this at some point. It’s like parents have never experienced the stress of school, dating, or life. “You do not understand!” And in some ways, the teens might be right. There are so many new pressures being put on teenagers these days. While there has always been the stress of “status” or being accepted into a certain group, kids now face new types of bullying like cyberbullying. Unfortunately, it’s easier to call someone on social media sites, shame them online, or tell them to kill themselves via text.

When it comes to teenagers, a dose of understanding is certainly important. So what can parents do at home to help their children? My two main suggestions: communication and consistency. As much as a teen may not agree, setting limits is what she wants most. Children need to know what is expected of them, from a set curfew to expectations for completing schoolwork. But they also need to feel heard. This doesn’t mean you have to agree with what they say, but it can build a little more cooperation if you listen to them first.

Let’s be honest…teenagers do a lot of stupid things. I’m sure we can all think of a time or two when we wish we could take back something we did. The important thing to remember is that we learn from these silly mistakes. Every wrong turn is an opportunity to learn. Too often we assume that children know what they are supposed to do, just as we assume they know how to use their textbooks to study. But if no one shows them the way, how can they know? This is where communication comes in. Instead of asking why they did something, try “What was the reason behind that decision?” It removes the tone of blame that teens tend to hear and opens up space to learn what’s going on in their minds. This gives you a chance to hear if there is a gap between what you think they should know and what they actually understand. And when you discover that they really don’t know something, you have a great opportunity to lead the way and share your own knowledge.

I recently experienced this with my nephew. He started a new job near where I live and asked to stay with me. We quickly learned that he needed guidance on budgeting when he blew through an entire paycheck in one week. I assumed they taught him how to balance his income with his expenses, but he was wrong. While we both had to address his financial concerns during the second week, it resulted in a great discussion and a wonderful learning opportunity. We even had a chance to talk about setting up a savings account and money for college. But this wouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t taken the time to find out what he was thinking.

Along with communication, parents need consistency. I’m sure she’s heard the phrase, “Say what he means and think about what he says.” The first thing to keep in mind is not to create a reward or consequence that you are not willing to follow through on. If you recognize that your child has been up late playing video games and you want them to go to sleep, don’t threaten to take away the gaming system unless you mean it. The minute you don’t follow through, he knows you’re just talking and he won’t take you seriously. If her daughter doesn’t complete homework because she spends all her time online and on the phone, what options does she have available to her? Don’t feel bad about taking your computer and phone. Sure there will be a fight initially, but all storms eventually run out of rain. Sure she could give in, but is that what’s best for her daughter? What lesson do you really want your teen to learn?

Another aspect of consistency is helping your teen create a routine. When should the task be completed? If you leave it to them, many teens will wait until just before bed when they are too tired to focus. With so many things grabbing your attention, it’s hard to prioritize what’s most important. This is especially true for teens who are involved in sports or other extracurricular activities. When is homework completed if they have band practice at 4 and road basketball at 7pm? We cannot assume that they will know how to handle all these tasks, especially when we struggle with the same things as adults. Orientation is important, but what if you yourself have difficulty prioritizing tasks? Seek help. Perhaps an aunt or grandmother could be the prime example in this case. Have your teen make a list of all the things she would like to or must do during the week. Then plan how it will be completed. Sometimes just “seeing” it ugly in front of them helps teens plan.

One final note: parenting is not easy. You know it. And just as your teen makes mistakes, so will you. And that’s fine. But it is those parents who show they care who have the greatest impact on their children’s lives. Model what you would like to see from your child. Sometimes that means sitting at the kitchen table to balance the checks while you complete homework. Maybe it’s showing your child how he studied for a math test. And when your teen is having a hard time understanding Shakespeare, maybe turn off the TV and read it with him. Ultimately, you as a parent will have the biggest impact on how your child handles the struggles of being a teenager. When tempers flare or grades drop, communication and consistency are key to calming the teen meltdown.

Health Fitness

hot and refreshing food

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When a Westerner hears the term ‘heat’ or ‘heat’, they will probably ask what it is. In Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), this is a common concept related to the balance of ‘yin’ and ‘yang’. Most people, especially the Chinese in Asian countries such as China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, and Singapore, are familiar with this notion of hot (yang) (as opposed to cooling or yin) as it is a Chinese way of expressing a certain whole. of symptoms or sensations often associated with emotional or physical reactions such as:

o Feelings of irritability;

or Bad temper;

Fever;

or constipation;

o Flushed face or cheeks;

OR dark yellow urine;

o Sore throat;

o Nosebleeds;

o Breakout of pimples and acne;

o Rashes;

o Mouth ulcers;

or indigestion.

Excess “cold” energy in the body, on the contrary, will make us feel weak, lethargic, tired and restless.

Each person’s constitution is influenced by congenital factors as well as acquired lifestyle (eg, diet, stress level, amount of exercise and sleep, living environment), and this varies from person to person . In other words, different foods act on the human body in different ways and affect our state of health. The body’s metabolism, organ function, and organ structure all combine to determine our susceptibility to these heating and cooling effects of food.

Examples of hot and cold foods:

Fresh food (yin):

Bamboo shoot, banana, bitter gourd, clam, crab, grapefruit, lettuce, persimmon, salt, seaweed, carambola, sugarcane, water chestnut, watermelon, lotus root, cucumber, barley, tofu, chicken egg white , marjoram, oyster, pear, mint, radish, strawberry, tangerine and yogurt, broccoli, cauliflower, zucchini, corn, tomato, pineapple, turmeric.

Neutral foods (balanced yin and yang):

Corn, abalone, apricot, beef, beet, black fungus, carp, carrot, celery, chicken egg yolk, cuttlefish, duck, fig, honey, bean, lotus fruit and seed, milk, olive, oyster, papaya, pork , potato, pumpkin, radish leaf, red bean, plum, sunflower seed, sweet rice, sweet potato, white mushroom, yellow soybean, brussels sprouts, mangetout, sweet potato, taro, dates, figs, raspberries, raisins, sage, rosemary , thyme , brown rice, apple.

Hot foods (yang):

Pepper, cinnamon bark, ginger, soybean oil, red and green pepper, chicken, apricot kernel, brown sugar, cherry, chestnut, chives, cinnamon stick, cloves, coconut, coffee, coriander (Chinese parsley), dates, dill seed, eel, garlic, grapefruit peel, green onion, guava, ham, mustard green, leek, longan, lamb, nutmeg, peach, raspberry, rosemary, shrimp, spearmint, sweet basil, tobacco, vinegar, walnut, jackfruit, durian, leek, shallot, spring onion, apricot, blackberry, blackcurrant, mango, peach, cherry, tangerine, grape.

It also matters how a food is prepared. For example, beef is considered neutral, but if you eat it fried or grilled, it will be considered spicy. In addition, there are some interesting general guidelines to determine if a certain food is hot or cold:

Hot/yang foods:

or grow under the scorching sun;

where they are sweet;

or has a lot of fats;

or high in sodium;

or they are hard, dry or pungent.

Cold foods/yin:

o grow in little sun;

or they are salty;

or they are thin;

or rich in potassium;

or soft and moist;

The heat and cooling effect of food refers to its ability to generate sensations, whether hot or cold, in our body. They do not refer to the state of food but to its effect on our body. For example, tea is a refreshing food. This means that it generates cold energy in our body. To find a balance in the diet, we can efficiently classify foods as yin or yang. Therefore, if you efficiently eat yin foods, your body will be able to produce only cold energy, in contrast, efficiently eating yang foods produces hotter energy. If a person suffers from cold rheumatism, it would be helpful to eat foods with a warm or hot energy. If a person suffers from acne breakouts due to eating fried foods, it is beneficial to eat cooling foods to counteract the heat and relieve symptoms.

The concept of heat is neither significant nor relevant in the Western medicine paradigm. However, it is believed that there is some parallel with acid (heat) and alkaline (cooling) balance, or protons and positive charges (heat) and cooling (electrons and negative charges). Medicine evolves. Conventional doctors in the West have long since begun to integrate and learn about alternative treatments or medicines and incorporate them into their practice. Today they believe that these new medical approaches are beneficial and effective in many ways.

Source: www.beneficios-de-la-miel.com/heaty.html

Legal Law

The fifth anniversary remembers the story of Dusty Robinson and his rusty bat

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On May 21, 2013, a player went hitless in eight bats, resulting in a terrible night at the plate. For the minor league outfielder, it was the most pointless offensive performance in organized baseball history.

You see, not only did he go hitless in those eight trips, he struck out seven times. That septet of strikes left Dusty Robinson with the inglorious record for most strikeouts in a single game but, with the tremendous surge in strikeouts in the current format of America’s pastime, it could very well be broken this season.

Believe it or not, Robinson’s Stockdale Ports won that game, outscoring their California League rival at Lake Elsinore eleven to nine. It probably helped that Stockdale had the services of a shortstop named Addison Russell, who would go on to win the league’s Rookie of the Year award that season.

Despite the record number of strikeouts he suffered that game, Robinson himself was a key part of the Ports’ offense that season. He led the club with twenty-one home runs and sixty-four RBIs, numbers even better than future Cubs star Russell.

Unfortunately, his inability to make consistent contact is reflected in his batting average for that 2013 season, as Robinson finished that year batting just .210. The 23-year-old was released by the organization during that winter and had to find independent baseball work.

He spent 2014 and 2015 with the Rockford Aviators of the Frontier League, and the following season he suited up for the Schaumberg Boomers in the same league. Robinson, after dropping to a .106 batting average, was out of professional baseball last year.

Still only twenty years old, Robinson could resurface somewhere in the game. After all, Major League Baseball is currently in an era where no one blinks how many times a batter blows. One of its highest-paid stars, Giancarlo Stanton of the New York Yankees, struck out five times in a nine-inning game last month.

Stanton was just many of the reasons why April was the first month in baseball history in which the number of strikeouts was greater than the number of hits. The month of May so far has shown the same trend, so no one will be surprised when Robinson’s record of seven strikeouts is broken at the major league level.

Lifestyle Fashion

LCD – Liquid crystal: an oxymoron?

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Liquid crystal is not an oxymoron. Know what it is? Have you ever wondered how it works? There are liquid crystal displays or LCDs in almost every electronic device that requires a screen: watches, computers, clocks, you name it.

So what they do is put liquid crystal between two sheets of polarizing metal, then run an electrical current through it so that the crystals line up and light can’t get through. Each glass is open or closed. That is, the light passes or it does not pass. They say it works like a shutter to open and close. Electricity is what makes it open or close.

There is a great website called How Stuff Works. I use it when I have questions about how things like LCD screens work. The link to LCD information is http://www.howstuffworks.com/lcd.htm. There are several articles there, but I’ll give you some basics that I learned here and you can do some more research if you’re interested.

If you read all the information on http://www.howstuffworks.com you will find out how to make your own LCD screen. That’s a bit more than I want to do, but it’s interesting. Maybe reading it will give you new ideas on how to improve the technology if that’s your thing. Or maybe you just want to get a general idea and that’s it.

Science is always finding new ways to play with light and matter to show us what we want, whether it’s the time, the words in your word processor, or something we haven’t even thought about yet. Studying current technology usually leads someone to improve it. This is how we progress. You take what you have, usually combining things in new ways, and put them together differently to come up with something that works even better than the last idea.

I’m so glad there are people doing that. It sure makes my life easier!

Pets

The secret of the open and shameless sale

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Many people seem apprehensive about selling their products and services. Not all, some are natural, others have had practice. But when the time comes, even many sellers are hesitant to push the sale.

I think this hits entrepreneurs of all kinds.

They are clear about what they offer.

They believe in what they do.

Still, when that time comes, they don’t ask for the sale. They expect the prospect to make that leap for them.

This is also seen with digital marketing. An avalanche of useful content (emails, videos, articles, you name it) without even trying to sell.

Ask anyone who does this why and they’ll give you a reasonable answer:

I want to offer value.

I don’t want to come across as salesy, corporate, or greedy.

It will chase away the clues.

Right now, I’m focused on building the relationship.

Sounds reasonable, right?

Except it’s rarely the real reason.

The reason is that it is more comfortable to say a lot without asking for the sale.

To write emails with intriguing topics, attractive bodies but no call to action.

And then someone comes up with a plausible excuse: “Not asking for the sale builds the relationship!” – and people line up.

Whether it’s true or not.

Well, I guess it builds a relationship. But what kind of relationship do you want?

Do you want to be seen as an enthusiastic hobbyist or a professional?

A curiosity, or someone who can solve problems?

A leader in his field or a child in need?

Professionals sell things while building the relationship. Each reinforces the other. You do not believe me? Think of how often people joke that Apple is a modern cult. Their fans love their products, they love them.

And, well, Apple knows how to ask for the sale…

And they also know how to build a relationship of admiration, maybe even loyalty.

Is that something you want for your business? Instead of customers, do you have a loyal following?

What would that do for its impact on the world, let alone its bottom line?

The best email marketers do this. The people on your list look forward to your emails. There are some email captions that I eagerly devour the moment they cross my inbox.

It’s not hard to tell the difference between them and all the other spammers:

Legends are entertaining.

His personality shines so brightly it’s deafening. Yes, I know I mixed metaphors there and I stand by it. They are deafeningly bright.

They offer enough value to allow you to justify reading them. Sure, they’re fun… but it’s educational fun, see?

And then they ask for the sale.

Usually a literal sale – click this link and buy this thing.

Sometimes the call to action is something else, like completing this survey. But usually it’s to take money from their readers and line their own pockets with it.

Because that’s what professionals do, no matter the industry.

(You can’t help anyone if you close the store.)

Real Estate

Heating and cooling your log home

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Needless to say, our ancestors didn’t care too much about heating their log cabins. Large fireplaces had no problem heating one or two rooms in which they lived. Of course, now that log homes are family-sized, people are often under the impression that there is something different about the way they are heated, and the good news is that a standard system will work just as well in a log home. logs as in a traditional structure.

Almost all log houses are built with at least one chimney. Initially we thought our beautiful soapstone wood stove would heat the entire house and we would use our forced air propane heat for backup. Unfortunately, we were all wrong. Because we have a cathedral ceiling with a large loft, the heat from the stove goes directly upstairs, requiring two ceiling fans to recirculate the hot air. We expected this, but we also thought that the heat would spread sideways into the rest of the open space (dining room and kitchen). Not in your life! Even sitting on the couch about 15 feet from the stove, I need a quilt. I am uncomfortably cold in the kitchen. I think if we had a regular ceiling, the heat might have gone where we expected, but the volume of the cathedral ceiling messed up our calculations. Also, the soapstone stove is designed to run 24/7, and because we both work for a living, the stove doesn’t come on until evening. This wood-burning stove needs to heat up slowly at the risk of cracking the stone, so that when it’s actually cooking, we’re ready for bed.

Old fireplaces traditionally sucked in all the hot air in the room, but modern designs are more efficient at recirculating heat. The most energy efficient chimney is built in the center of the house, so that the heat from the chimney is not lost to the outside. Outdoor fireplaces can create drafts if the fire is extinguished, making it more difficult to start a new fire. If you are planning multiple fireplaces, placing two of them back to back (facing adjoining rooms) will give you the opportunity to build a fireplace with two flues. Or you can put a chimney over your oven, again allowing two flues in the same chimney. A direct vent fireplace will eliminate the chimney, but you’ll have to figure out how to hide the vent in the outside wall. Or, if you’re using a wood stove, you can run the pipe through the wall and straight out, building a box around the pipe to simulate a fireplace. Depending on the look you want, you may want to leave the pipe inside the room and send it through the ceiling. This will give more heat.

It’s a good idea to consider your heating and cooling needs early in the design phase. Although log houses are naturally energy efficient, it is not advisable to skimp on your system. You may be able to heat your entire home with a large fireplace or wood stove, but the municipality will likely have minimum standards to meet before issuing a building permit. Also, you need to consider the resale value. I know of one person who tried to sell a million-dollar handmade log home with no oven, and as you might suspect, the buyer never showed up. The house was listed as unfinished, and installing the heating system after the fact was too daunting a task. A similar problem exists if you try to escape without central air conditioning. Yes, log homes stay cooler in the summer, but those August “dog days” can give you a perfectly miserable night’s sleep, and a potential buyer probably won’t be as forgiving as the original owner. In fact, our mortgage company wouldn’t even consider a construction loan if we didn’t include central air conditioning.

If you want to conserve duct space, you can use forced air heat, with the same ducts serving the air conditioner. Propane or oil are often the fuels of choice in rural areas. If interior wall space is limited, there are companies that specialize in very small high pressure duct systems that fit into tight angles; these systems generally require a much higher initial installation cost. When using traditional ductwork, you want to keep angles to a minimum, so it’s helpful to design first floor walls that will bring air directly to the second floor. An open floor plan offers a challenge, because you have to keep in mind that rooms above you need to be heated in some way, and you’ll need supply and return vents to create efficient airflow. If you want to use full log interior walls, you’ll have to find another way to run the ductwork, electricity, and plumbing. We made that mistake and there are not enough vents in our bedroom. The air is stale in the summer, even with the windows open.

Where do the winds go? Since all of our exterior walls are lined with logs, many of our vents were placed on the floor. If your interior walls are drywall or tongue and groove, you can place the vents where they normally go. One thing I wish I had done was go over the plan with the HVAC contractor, because he put the vents in the places I thought were the most inconvenient. Sometimes it can be avoided, and sometimes it cannot.

If you’re concerned about energy and prefer to leave your thermostat all the way down, you’ll find that the south side of the log home tends to be warmer than the north side. Because the sun tends to sink closer to the horizon on a winter afternoon, it is advantageous to place large windows facing south; During the summer, the sun will come through the roof, so it won’t overheat your house. However, you may find that the north side of your house, which receives no direct sun at all, could be noticeably cooler. The best solution is to install underfloor heating (if you can afford it). Although this system requires a boiler instead of a furnace, underfloor heating distributes heat evenly throughout the house, eliminating north-facing blues. With underfloor heating, you have to keep the thermostat stable all the time; the system is not designed to turn off when you go to work. In addition, you can also use the boiler to heat hot water, eliminating the need for a hot water heater. On the other hand, you will still need to install ductwork for the air conditioning.

In general, the same considerations apply as in normal construction. We thought we could get by with a single heating and cooling zone, but in hindsight, two zones would have solved a lot of problems. In the long run, it’s cheaper to do it right in the first place. Retrofitting a log house is not going to be a piece of cake!

Shopping Product Reviews

HTC Incredible S review

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In this HTC Incredible S smartphone review, the smartphone under the spotlight is HTC Incredible S. Although, judging by the name, you might think that it is a simple upgrade from the HTC Incredible, think again. This phone is a powerhouse of its own and this HTC phone review will tell you why.

The HTC Incredible S is powered by a Qualcomm MSM 8255 1GHZ processor with the help of 768MB RAM and an Adreno 205 GPU. Although it doesn’t come with a dual core processor, this phone coupled with Android simply takes you to a joyous journey, always.

The 120 x 64 x 11.7mm phone weighing around 135.5g comes with a 4-inch display which really caught our eye and is definitely worth mentioning in this HTC phone review. The 800 x 480 pixel WVGA touch screen is excellent as colors remain vivid and clear even when viewing the screen from various angles. On the front are also the cool rotary buttons that hold while you switch the phone to landscape mode along with the 1.3-megapixel camera. On the left of the HTC Incredible S, you’ll find the volume controls, as well as the microUSB port. Running on Android v.2.2.1 is definitely a disappointment, especially since so many other smartphones on the market run on Gingerbread.

However, the phone is said to receive the Android 2.4 update. The latest version of HTC Sense on the phone seems to make up for the shortcoming of Android on the HTC Incredible S. There are plenty of great things waiting to be explored on the HTCSense.com site, such as the remote access functionality it provides for accessing your contacts and other things.

Like any other HTC phone review, we reviewed the performance of the HTC Incredible S phone. Making voice calls was pretty good on this phone as the audio was clear and noise-free. Browsing the internet was also good on this phone, as you can do things like scroll and zoom on web pages quickly with little to no lag. The Mobile Hotspot application that comes with the phone is also a plus as you can share your 3G connection with others. The 1450 mAh battery seems to provide enough juice to run this phone for at least a day without needing to recharge.

The HTC Incredible S has really good cameras as both cameras reduce noise well. That said, the image quality is incredible. On top of that, the waiting time between shots is barely there, while the focus speed is pretty fast too.

As this HTC phone review found out, although many may disagree, it’s not always that bad to use Froyo, even if Gingerbread has been around for a while. This has to be said for the HTC Incredible S because it’s so good in just about every way, and that’s partly thanks to Froyo’s constant development. In addition, the phone also looks stylish so it will definitely be a hit with many.