Planning a Tailgate Party

     It’s that time of year football is taking place so it’s time to party. A way to show team spirit is by having a tailgate party. The party is usually held in a parking lot of the stadium. The tailgate party gets its name because it typically takes place around the tailgate of a truck.

     There are several things to do to prepare for a tailgate party. The first thing you need to do    prior to having the party is to find out if a permit is required. You can check with the stadium to find out the rules and guidelines before making arrangements. Remember that others will be showing the same team spirit as you are, regardless whether it’s your team or not be respectful to other tailgaters. It’s all in fun so having a good time and supporting your favorite team is what’s important. Layout your spot in the parking lot for your next tailgate party. The earlier you plan the more popular your party will be.

     Next is selecting the type of food you want to serve. The best choice is something that can be prepared in a short time frame such as fifteen minutes or less. Remember that a tailgate party takes place in a parking lot so a grocery store is not something that will be handy. Preparing a list of items will make a successful tailgate party.

     Sometimes preparing food ahead of time such as potato salad and baked beans. Popular foods that are commonly fixed at tailgate parties are hamburgers, hotdogs, bratwurst, and chicken wings. Those are all items that can be cooked on a gas or charcoal grill. Desserts are something that needs to be prepared ahead of time. Different types of cookies will be something that will go over well with tailgaters. Other quick to grab foods you might consider are nachos.

     Now when you’re choosing the beverages choose something that will be enjoyed by your entire guest. Sometimes it’s best if serving hot and cold drinks. Cold drinks that you may want to serve include soda, water, Gatorade, and alcoholic beverages. When it’s cold out your guest may prefer to have a warm cup of hot chocolate verses a cold beer.

     Getting your do list to together. Here’s a basic check list for all you tailgaters; BBQ grill, cooking utensils, napkins, coolers, tables, beverages, food, and most of all don’t forget your team flags and whatever else you might have showing support of your team.

     Another idea is having contest on team attire. This is always been an area that individuals can come up with some rather attention-grabbing highlights to add to the party. For any other ideas you can search places on the internet such as http://www.ehow.com/list_6969607_tailgate-party-game-ideas.html .

     Even though having a tailgate party can be full of fun and enjoyment there is a time when all good things must come to an end. So planning a clean-up party is something you might want to consider so you’re not left with it all. Good luck football fans.  Go Steelers!

                                               

Things to Look for When Building a Home

When building a home it’s not really to the advantage of a homeowner to always go with the lowest priced contractor. Several things go a long with using the lowest bidder. One prime example is they may not be licensed and bonded. This however, is a plus in the homeowner eyes to save money on building cost but can be more costly in the near future if something goes terribly wrong while building.

During the tornado is just an example of all the people who come out of the woodwork to help those people who have lost their homes. It’s not unusually for individuals to take advantage of people who are in need of help. Flyer's are one way of getting the attention of citizens in local communities. It’s best that you call prior to hiring the licensing and permit department where you will be building. The city will be able to tell you if the party in question is indeed ligament contractors.

Here is just an example of what might occur; the contractor and a small crew show up to measure and give you a materials list and then they ask for a portion of the money up front to start. Next day they don’t show up so, then you call the following day only to find out there number has been disconnected. At that point all you can do is report them to the city, and file a lawsuit against them. However, if they provided you with false numbers, names and location of their company how are you going to be able to press charges?

Now not only have you lost money on the project but will now had to hire another contractor. The best way to avoid this from happening is to contact the city about the contractor in which you tend to hire for your project. I know this sounds ridiculous and how could this happen. This sort of problem happens every day in communities. The only recourse you will have is to file a claim with the courts and that is if they can be found.

Don’t be a statistic in your community by hiring someone who is not licensed or bonded. Protect yourself from letting this happen. It’s just a phone call a way to insure this doesn’t happen. Advantages of hiring a licensed contractor are you can file a complaint against the contractor’s license in most cases for a period up to two years from the date of occupancy or last date of work performed. A licensed contractor is typically covered for about 200,000 or 300, 000 dollars.

It doesn’t matter whether you’re building a house, having plumbing or electric work done, installing an air conditioner it’s in your best interest to contact the city in which you’re planning on having work done. Again this takes place on daily basis and it could happen to you as well if you don’t protect yourself.

Smoking

The soot in a chimney is like the tar in a person’s lungs.  Everyday hundreds of thousands of individuals die from smoking. The lungs and the heart are both affected by smoking. Smoking for a long length of time can cause cancer as well as for some a limb being amputated. The nicotine and carbon monoxide will increase your heart rate and blood pressure, which put strain on your blood vessels. Smoking is a slow dying disease.  Men who smoke are more likely to get lung cancers than non-smoking.

There are several different methods that smokers use to try and quit smoking, however unless the individual is really ready to quit it doesn’t matter which one of these methods they try, all the methods in the world won’t work unless they are truly ready to quit.  Some of the products smokers use to quit smoking are; chewing nicotine gum, wearing the nicotine patch, nasal sprays such as smoke deter, and even cigarette filter tips. All of these items are available either online or in your local grocery stores, and convenience stores.

Second hand smoke causes about three thousand lung cancer deaths a year. There is no safe level when a person inhales second hand smoke. Second hand smoke increases the risk for lung cancer, leukemia, infant death syndrome and many other things. These levels are dangerous for adults, young children and babies who are around smoke. The next time you think about lighting up that cigarette around a non-smoker you might think about the risk you’re imposing on them.

Children don’t have the option to get away from their parents when they decide to light up. There should be a law that a person cannot smoke in a car, sit in a restaurant, or inside their home if a minor child is present. Adults have the luxury of walking away from smokers, children don’t. So if nothing else we need to protect the children in our society since others don’t. If you’re a non-smoker and you go into a restaurant with your children do you really want to sit by a smoking chimney?

So, if you take nothing away from this article but one thing please be cognitive to your surroundings when lighting up because the one you are lighting up next too may not like your second hand smoke and as mentioned above second hand smoke can be very dangerous so is it really fair to subject some innocent bystander whether adult or child to one’s own personal smoking habit?   

NFL Sunday Ticket

http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/gigaom/articles/video_streaming_the_nfl.html

http://www.ehow.com/how_2038978_nfl-sunday-ticket.html

http://www.directv-usa.com/nfl-sunday-ticket-the-best-reason-to-order-satellite-tv/

     I am a Pittsburg Steelers fan and have been since I was a young boy. As you know most of the games on local television broadcast is not going to be a Steelers game. The only way that a person could possibly be watching all of their games and that is to make a contribution to the NFL Sunday ticket and imagine paying three hundred-sixty dollars for the season. What a swindle for people who would actually consider this.

     Although, my wife and son have tried creating a logical price conversion so that I would agree to receive the channel. Here is their rationality of the cost; approximately ninety dollars a month for four months, twenty-two dollars and fifty cents a week, three dollars and twenty-one cents a day. So their levelheadedness suggests that I spend more than that on energy drinks in a weeks’ time.

     Well they are probably accurate on the energy drinks and I know they’re not good for me either. Well neither is losing a game when I’m watching it. To tell you the truth it can be quite frustrating. Nevertheless they won the NFL Sunday ticket and of course I lost the vote due to the lack of supporting evidence to say otherwise. Of course it didn’t help much when my first game of the season we were crushed by the Baltimore Ravens 35-7 in a one-sided game where we turned the ball over 7 times and the Ravens scored the most points that they have ever scored against us. Even after the thrashing by the Ravens I’m still a diehard STEELERS fan for life, regardless of how good or bad they play.

     Now let’s go back to the NFL Sunday, want I find to be ludicrous is the fact that Direct TV is the only one who has rights to it. Guess what folks that is for four years.  Now for those who choose not to pay for the ticket will get one Sunday night game a week. So of course Direct TV knows they can get those ridiculous prices from viewers all over.

     On the other hand if I were a Kansas City Chiefs fan well then I’d be watching the games every week. Why is that you say, because were in Missouri.  Don’t get me wrong I like the Chiefs but my number one team will always be the Pittsburg Steelers. Go Steelers Nation! Oh and by the way the Kansas City Chiefs for the opening season wasn’t much better. They got stomped by the Buffalo Bills 41-7.

     For anyone who is on the go a lot or isn’t always home near your receiver they also have NFL Sunday Ticket To-Go.  It allows you access to watch NFL games on your mobile phone or on your computer, so that no matter where you are, you will have access to watch any NFL game that you aren’t at home to see.

     So it doesn’t matter whether you are a Pittsburg Steelers, Kansas City Chiefs, or any other NFL teams fan it’s not necessarily how much you pay to watch the games, but how much you actually want to watch your favorite team win or lose.

Televisions

     Televisions are the number one source of entertainment for people of all ages. Consumers have put such a variety of them on the market that the average person doesn’t even have a clue what to buy.

     Who would have ever thought that televisions would be an invasion in their own home? I remember the day of the four legged television that you had to get up and change the channel. Now I know what some of you is thinking, wow how old are you! Times have changed through the years as most of you know.

     Next were the big bulky televisions that stuck out of the wall three feet, weighed fifty pounds, which might be just a little bit of an exaggeration but heavy in deed. Still have a few of them old televisions hanging around in fact one is an RCA that is on a swivel base. By the way that has been an excellent TV. Essentially, what I am arguing is that although the TV is old, it’s still working as well or better than the new ones they have today.

     Understanding the various types of televisions is crucial in making your decision. Today there is so many different types; Direct View Tube, Plasma Display Panels aka (PDP), Liquid Crystal Display aka (LCD), Digital Light Processing aka (DLP).

     High-Definition TV (HDTV) is the best quality television which replaced our old analog television system. DTV provides a better picture and sound than the old analog television. There is less chance for interference as well. It takes certain equipment to watch DTV.

     The old analog televisions now require a converter box to be able to watch the broadcast. Now this became quite a problem for several of the viewers who had yet updated their televisions. With some individuals they don’t like change, while others tend to make a mountain out of a mole hill and don’t want to advance with technology. Either way if you have the old system you have to convert to new equipment.

     Analog broadcasting was canceled in June of 2009; Congress set a deadline to allow people to get the equipment needed to be able to receive their broadcastings. Of course, many will probably disagree with the decision that Congress made. Although, it won’t make a difference in whether they agree or not this is a new way of life. At first glance, even some of the baby boomers might say what a preposterous idea congress has come up with. But on closer note most of them will agree that DTV’s quality of picture and sound is better than analog.

     When you’re looking for a new television to replace the old analog keep in mind buying the most expensive is not necessarily a good thing. Ask a lot of questions such as; if I want to save room what type of television should I choose, will my children be able to hook up the Xbox or do I need extra cables, does it matter whether I have a DVD player or Blue Ray. These are just a few questions that some people may not know the answer to.

Cell Phones

http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/electronics-computers/phones-mobile-devices/cell-phones-services/cell-phone-service-buying-advice/cell-phone-service-types/cell-phone-service-types.htm

http://www.phonedog.com/cell-phone-research/companies/

http://www.yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/​2003/4/03.04.07.x.html%20-%20Cached

I believe it is very important for everyone to have a cell phone.  I feel that the number one reason to have a cell phone is no matter where you are, if there is an emergency you will have access to dial 911.  Another great reason to have a cell phone is with the busy lives that many of us lead, we are not always at home for people to be able to get a hold of us. Cell phones give us the flexibility to be reached anytime, anywhere.

There are two main types of cell phones: Conventional Cell Phones and Smart Phones.

Conventional cell phones are usually small and compact. A few of the main types are: bar phones, flip phones, and slider phones.  They are all designed to be compact and easy to use.  Most of the phones will make phone calls, do text messaging, and play music.  Some phones also have cameras built into them, so that you can capture a picture on the go without having to have to carry a separate digital camera.

Smart phones are designed for life on the go.  Most smartphones have a full touchscreens while other smart phones are touchscreen that have a slide out keyboard to type on.  They can be used to handle more than one email account.  On many smart phones you can create or edit Microsoft Office documents such as a spreadsheet.  Many smart phones also give you complete internet access just like you would have on any desktop computer or laptop.  Many phones give you the option to connect to Wi-Fi for faster browsing and internet speeds.  A lot of the smart phones have different apps that allow you to do many different things such as shop, play games, edit pictures, and much more.

There are tons of different cell phone carriers to choose from.  Some of the main cell phone carriers are: Att, Verizon, Sprint, T-mobile, and U.S. Cellular.  There are also smaller cell phone carriers that are more regional and only cover a certain area of the country.

The main differences between carriers are the services and features they offer and the price at which you can receive those services. Most carriers pretty much offer the same services and have prices that are relatively close to each other.  Some carriers have contracts with certain cell phone makers to be the only carrier that is allowed to carry a certain model of phone.  Other than going with a carrier because they have a certain phone that you want it basically comes down to which company you want to take a chance with.

So whether you need a cell phone to call a tow truck when you break down on the side of the road, or you need it to edit and send an important spreadsheet right before a business meeting, or you are at your mother in-laws house and are bored out of your mind and want to download and play the newest game on your phone.  I think it is very important for everyone to have a cell phone so that no matter what is going on in their lives, they are always connected to the outside world for all of their needs.