Update Your Fixer-Upper With These Home Improvement Tips ...

If you are thinking about repainting the exterior of your home and the existing paint is in good shape, pressure wash the outside of the home prior to putting on new primer. This will get any dirt and debris off the old paint and give the primer a good surface to bond with.

If you are looking for home improvement, don?t forget the outside areas of your home too. If you love fish, you may want to consider putting in a Koi pond. They look beautiful, and they can be customized to match the look of your backyard or be made the focal point.

Replace your old curtains with new ones. A faded set of curtains will take away from the look of the entire space. By eliminating them you will add a dramatic feel to your room without having to go through all of the work of painting the room. It is an affordable and easy way to get a new look.

Clean up throughout your home improvement project to ensure that your project doesn?t get derailed. If you leave dust and plaster all over the floor while trying to install tile, you?ll find nothing sticks. Gee, I wonder why? Clean up every time you demolish something to ensure that the upgrades you put in are done correctly.

To create a built-in display case for your favorite china, glassware, or decorative touches, consider removing one or more cabinet doors from your kitchen cabinetry, or replace a few solid cupboard doors with glass doors. The inside of the cabinet can be painted, and you can easily add accent lighting to make the area a key focal area.

Use natural materials for interior home improvement projects whenever the budget will possibly allow it. Real building materials like stone, wood and ceramic are in virtually every case superior to their synthetic equivalents. Not only are they more attractive but they are also more durable. More expensive natural materials can be cheaper in the long run because synthetics will have to be replaced more frequently.

Sometimes home improvement is necessary for reasons beyond our control. The roof may have been damaged during a storm; the foundation may have developed a crack; or maybe the cold weather caused some pipes to freeze up and burst. Most of the time these are unexpected repairs. Check with your homeowner?s insurance to see if the repair is covered.

Improving your home yourself in anyway can be a fun, rewarding experience, but this can also be a disaster. Before starting any projects, make sure you research what you?re doing first. Getting halfway through any home improvement project only to find you?re doing something wrong is a nightmare waiting to happen.

If you are suffering the wrath of owning a small bedroom, you can create an optical illusion making it seem larger than it is. Repainting your room in light green or blue can create a feeling of more ?space?. You can also incorporate colors such as off white or beige, but they won?t feel as comfortable or warm as the other colors would.

For the easiest modern touch to the home, consider using wallpaper. Wallpaper these days can offer quite modern and funky designs, which can generate a great update for your home. This can give you a great look for the home with less effort than painting.

Repainting, replacing the carpet, or getting new plants and other decorations are easy ways to update your home. Rearranging furniture and installing mirrors can let the room seem bigger and more airy. Make sure the room provides the functionality that it is meant to serve while expressing your personality and tastes.

Do you now understand about home improvement? Do you know about tools and safety regulations and how to use them? Do you now know what it takes to do a good job? If you have an idea of how to answer these questions now, then you have read and understood what it takes to become better at home improvement.

Dennise Seibers has a column relating to water filter systems

Source: http://blog.ilove3c.com/2012/08/12/update-your-fixer-upper-with-these-home-improvement-tips/

elisabeth hasselbeck fran drescher scarlett o hara pat sajak vanna white michael robinson joe paterno memorial service

Articles Ezines ? How It is Possible For You To Make Your House An ...

Home-improvement is a terrific way to make your house look brand spanking new. You can make your walls have more life with a new coat of paint, economize on heating costs by adding more insulation, and other stuff. If you'd like guidance on home improvement, then read this document.

Air Conditioning

Ceiling fan installation is a superb and cost effective DIY project that you must consider. Ceiling fans are very good for circulating the air in the home, and keeping the home cool. They can also help to reduce the price of your electrical bills by getting rid of the necessity for aircon during the cooler days of the summer.

When it comes down to home enhancements, one thing that must be accepted is that sometimes you have to spend money so as to economize. Purchasing a new fridge can save you money on electricity, and insulating a room or particularly an attic room can save on heating and air-conditioning bills. All these sorts of improvements will also help to increase the value of your home if you make a decision to sell in the future.

If you don't already have some, install some ceiling fans in all your rooms. You need to use these to cool rooms and circulate the air, reducing the need to use your air con unit. This in turn will save your money on your electric bill and most likely increase the survival expectancy of your air conditioner.

An excellent home improvement and way to economize is to install a whole-house fan. These are glorious sources of power savings because they sometimes use one-tenth the electricity of an air conditioner. If you live in a place where air con isn't mandatory year round, this is a great alternative option to central air.

Installing ceiling fans will reduce your electricity bill, add value to your house and improve the look of your house. Ceiling fans circulate and chill the air in your house, especially during summer evenings. This can truly aid in lowering the price of air-con. Ceiling fans also add a touch of style unlike any other accessory!

In order to save cash on air con costs during the summer, try installing ceiling fans. Ceiling fans recirculate air within a room, cooling it down without the need for turning on a central air system. They're relatively simple to install and can be installed in the place of your lighting fixture.

Make sure you keep the filter for your air con unit clean. If the filter gets obstructed, the air conditioning unit will have to work harder to chill your house, using up more energy. It can also result in the unit running longer than it should be needed. You must change your filter once or more a month to prevent buildup.

To conclude, DIY makes any home appear brand new. Little things like painting walls, or huge things such as adding insulation, can make houses better than ever. If you remember the advice on DIY found in this article, then you can make your home look like new.

These home improvement tips are brought to you by the leader in Air Conditioning Indianapolis Service. Call Heating and Cooling Indianapolis if you have questions on any of these home improvement tips.

Source: http://www.articlesezines.com/how-it-is-possible-for-you-to-make-your-house-an-oasis-with-some-improvements/

good morning america red meat bachelor ben jon hamm kim kardashian law school rankings jon hamm heather morris

Obama: Attack at Sikh temple assails religion

WASHINGTON (AP) ? President Barack Obama says an attack at a Sikh temple in Wisconsin is an assault on religious faith and has no place in the United States.

He says such an attack "is an attack on the freedom of all Americans." He says no American should ever have to fear worshipping in public.

Obama spoke at a White House dinner he hosted Friday night to celebrate the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.

Obama singled out Huma Abedin (HOO'-muh AB'-uh-deen), an aide to Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton who is Muslim. Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota has alleged that Abedin has family ties to Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood.

Obama called Abedin "an American patriot" and "an example of what we need in this country."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/obama-attack-sikh-temple-assails-religion-012824774.html

big east jesse james pearl harbor day discovery channel lea michele michael buble michael buble

Leaked photos of iPhone 5 battery raise questions over battery life

Our technology has come a long way since the ancient Greek Games. Over the last few decades, advances have brought the Olympics to the living room and smartphone, and unveiled unparalleled timing accuracy that can measure down to a millionth of a second.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/leaked-photos-iphone-5-battery-raise-questions-over-163500691.html

chuck elisabeth hasselbeck fran drescher scarlett o hara pat sajak vanna white michael robinson

inspired by charm reviews: Berry Mint Chocolate Bliss // Silkology

After looking through all the fabulous drink ideas, I settled on the Berry Mint Chocolate Bliss. A drink with chocolate pieces in it!? Yes please.

I gathered all my ingredients (included my little dark chocolate chips), my blender, and got to mixing!

Here's what you'll need:

3/4 cup Silk soymilk or almondmilk, any flavor
1 fresh mint leaf
1/2 Tbsp chocolate chips
1/2 cups frozen raspberries
1 Tbsp maple syrup
1/2 Tbsp almonds
1 fresh mint leaf for garnish?

Then:
In a blender or food processor, blend all ingredients. Serve garnished with a mint leaf.

It's seriously that easy! And not only did this concoction satisfy my sweet tooth, it left me feeling refreshed and energized. Perfect!

Personally, I think these would be a huge hit at a party or family gathering. Trick your friends and family into this healthy treat instead of something loaded with sugar, fat, and calories. Trust me, they won't know the difference!

Head on over to the interactive Silkologoy?Facebook page to check out all the delicious drinks!

Silk?inspired me to think outside of the bowl with their new Silkology-inspired drink recipes. Tell me something new you want to try this summer when entertaining to win a Silkology prize package.?

Official Sweepstakes Rules.

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of?Silk.?

Source: http://inspiredbycharmreviews.blogspot.com/2012/08/berry-mint-chocolate-bliss-silkology.html

fbi most wanted list stuttering james van der beek dyngus day indonesia quake stephen strasburg shabazz

?Writing Nigerian? by Eghosa Imasuen - EditIQ

I started writing seriously in 2005. It was a decision made without thinking, on the spur of the moment, provoked by a need to fill a gap I had noticed in our stories. I had never heard my voice, had only read a few stories written specifically for me.

So I wrote my first novel, To Saint Patrick, published in 2008 by Farafina. I was still timid, still unsure how to write in Nigerian English. So I kept the experimentation to only dialogue. I introduced a character named Sergeant Tuvo Oghenovo who was from Warri and who only spoke pidgin, used nigerianisms, and engaged in playful banter with my protagonists, the slightly more straitlaced Ayo and Hadiza. I liked it.

I had to learn while writing. Listening to Nigerian Pidgin English and reading same on the page are two very different experiences, separated by kilometres of enjoyment and awkwardness. You listen to Warri people speaking, you get lost in the singsong variations of tone, of meaning, of context. You read the exact same sentences and you find yourself stumbling over syntax, over new spellings, over unnecessary re-spellings of common English words. A chore, a common experience, I gather, as any perusal of a National Orientation Agency, or Ministry of Health, educational poster written in pidgin will testify. I call this written version NTA Pidgin. And the no one speaks this way. And in the typical way exceptions have of proving hypotheses true, I find that the TV and radio adverts in pidgin are even more difficult to understand than the written versions of NTA Pidgin.

Why can?t they just write it the way it is spoken? Wetin hard for inside?

I grew up in Warri. My first language was English, close second was Pidgin. We learnt in from the househelp, and from my father?s trailer drivers. So as you suspect I am proficient in its use. But I never use words like ?obonge?, ?orishi-rishi?. I speak plainly, to communicate, to crack jokes without beating my audience over the head with a hammer, making them laugh at my intonation while not listening to what I am saying.

So back to the techniques I used in my second novel, Fine Boys. Fine Boys started as an experiment in voice. I wanted to tell a story of my university years, of the characters, the typical archetypes in any coming-of-age story.? I wanted to speak of the uppity young man finding the world a much bigger place than he imagined it to be, I wanted to write about the hard man with a good heart, about the class fool, the beautiful girl. I wanted to write about friendships, which in teenage years last forever. I would do this with our voice; I would do this in the way we spoke, the way we sounded. And I wanted to translate these stories into the medium of the novel. Had this been done before? I am sure.

For ease of understanding, for fluency, for a fluid reading experience for my readers (a maxim I have taken to heart is attributed to Nathaniel Hawthorne: ?An easy read is a damned hard write.?), I settled for certain rules in writing in Nigerian.

Keep the dialogue simple and uncluttered. This seems straightforward enough.? Do not complicate your sentences. Dialogue written in dialect can be very difficult to read. Make sure you intersperse speech with hints. You could have the speech modifiers doing some of the work. Or you could have one character speaking plain English, and have his responses clarify what is being said by the pidgin speaker.

Spell original English words as correctly as possible. There are many opinions on this issue. This is just mine. I find reading ?de?, ?dey?, ?dose? utterly confusing and am comfortable with ?the?, ?they?, and ?those?, even though?like most Warri boys?I pronounce these words as written in the first example.

Do not italicise your words. I use italics for emphasis. For the stress of word spoken in dialogue. I also use it to push an unconventional meaning of a word. I almost never use it for our words; I find that intrusive and reeking of self-doubt. This is the information age. If you written your copy properly and with a light touch, there will be almost no reason for a reader to break his flow and consult Google. In context, words like ?yansh? and ?mumu? need no explanation. Phrases like ?He lived two NEPA poles from here,? will almost certainly be understood by even the most parochial of reader. Be confident, speak in your English. It will be understood.

The rules all say one thing. Learn your craft and write with confidence. And remember nothing can trump emotional honesty. Understand your characters, do not judge them, listen to them and write what they say.

?

Eghosa Imasuen is the author of To St. Patrick and Fine Boys, both published in Nigeria by Farafina. Fine Boys was released in 2012 and is receiving rave reviews. Read more about Eghosa ?Dr. No Pretension? and his use of language here and enjoy an excerpt of Fine Boys here. After that you?re going to want a copy of the book! To get one email orders@kachifo.com or call +2348035730205

Tags: Eghosa Imasuen, Fine Boys

Source: http://www.editiq.com/writing-nigerian-by-eghosa-imasuen/

ides of march elizabeth smart nick young south dakota state long beach state beasley trailblazers

US, Jamaica advance easily in Olympic relay

United States' Justin Gatlin competes in a men's 4 x100-meters relay heat during the athletics in the Olympic Stadium at the 2012 Summer Olympics, London, Friday, Aug. 10, 2012. (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus)

United States' Justin Gatlin competes in a men's 4 x100-meters relay heat during the athletics in the Olympic Stadium at the 2012 Summer Olympics, London, Friday, Aug. 10, 2012. (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus)

Jamaica's Michael Frater, left, passes the baton to Yohan Blake in a men's 4x100-meter relay heat during the athletics in the Olympic Stadium at the 2012 Summer Olympics, London, Friday, Aug. 10, 2012. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

LONDON (AP) ? Members of the American 4x100 relay team left the Olympic track Friday believing anything's possible ? maybe even a win over Usain Bolt.

With Justin Gatlin running the anchor leg, the U.S. broke a 20-year-old national record in its preliminary round, finishing in 37.38 seconds. The old record, first set in 1992 with Carl Lewis running the anchor leg, was 37.40.

"We're going to figure out a way to go out there and compete with them," Gatlin said. "We're not scared of them."

One small problem: Jamaica, running in the evening's opening heat, was only a hundredth of a second slower than the United States, and that was with Bolt on the sideline.

In the final Saturday, Bolt will take Kemar Bailey-Cole's place on the anchor leg, while Nesta Carter, Michael Frater and 100 and 200 runner-up Yohan Blake will run in the first three spots, as they did in the preliminaries.

The U.S. and Jamaican times were the fourth- and fifth-fastest ever recorded, and based on all the fast times run Friday ? the American women set a world record at 40.82 seconds in their final later in the evening ? the men's mark of 37.04, set by Jamaica at last year's world championships, appears reachable.

"We've got guys that have been running good and we've got Usain Bolt, who's going to run a fast time," Blake said. "It's going to be interesting."

Bolt first helped rewrite the relay record to close out his three-win, three-world-record performance at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, when he ran the third leg of a race the Jamaicans finished in 37.10. Bolt hasn't set a record in his two winning sprints in London so far but has become the first man to repeat at the Olympics in both the 100 and 200.

In the preliminaries, the U.S. went with former Florida football player Jeff Demps, Darvis Patton, Trell Kimmons and Gatlin, this year's 100-meter bronze medalist. Tyson Gay, who finished fourth in the 100 and is still in search of his first Olympic medal, figures to earn a spot in the final.

The American men are back in the final after missing it in Beijing when Patton and Gay mishandled the baton exchange in preliminaries. At the time, Gatlin, the 2004 100-meter champion, was serving a doping ban. But now he's back, and he helped break a record held by Lewis, along with men who are now coaching a number of the American sprinters, Dennis Mitchell and Jon Drummond.

"They always put it in our face: 'If you want to be great, go after that record,'" Gatlin said. "Many U.S. relays teams have gone for that record and have not gotten it. It happened to be here in the Olympics."

The American record is one thing. Winning the Olympic gold medal, however, will take a win over Jamaica and Bolt.

"They're definitely fast. They're definitely worthy opponents," Gatlin said. "I'm the kind of person that loves pressure. This is the level we have to reach, this is the level we have to achieve."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2012-08-10-OLY-ATH-Track-and-Field-Men's-4x100/id-591d505803d148e39c9e6d116bc5e675

kim kardashian flour matt forte jeremy shockey new orleans saints ireland bracket vangogh