Last year I made a massive error in judgement and managed to embarrass myself in front of my entire cul-de-sac neighbourhood. You see I had had an incredibly stressful day at work, one of the servers had decided to take the day off work (as computer systems do), so we couldn’t access half of our files. Now for most businesses that wouldn’t be too much of a problem but being a dental nurse, it is kind of important that you can see you patient’s records, particularly before you start accidentally removing or filling the wrong teeth. Anyway, to cut an incredibly long and dull story short we eventually got the system up and running and managed to catch up on most of the delay so I only had to stay in the surgery for an extra hour and a half.

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By the time I got home I wasn’t really in the right frame of mind and all I could think about was how empty my stomach felt. You see I had worked straight through my lunch to try and make up some of the time we had lost in the morning. I was so busy thinking about my stomach and wasn’t paying attention when I managed to put my garage door key into the front door. Of course, I didn’t notice this, so spent my time trying to ram the key further into the lock and wrench it around to open the door, and yes, you’ve guessed it, I snapped the key off in the lock. Now at this point you would have thought I would have calmly called my local Doncaster Locksmith Danum Locksmiths but oh no, that would have been the sensible thing to do (and what I will be doing should a lock-based emergency ever happen again). No, what I decided to do was to try and climb an eight-foot fence into my back garden to open the patio door. Well, as I teetered at the top of the fence I managed to very skilfully catch my jumper on the guttering of the garage and I pulled down the entire down pipe as I tumbled off the fence and landed on the inflatable paddling pool, which had been emptied of water a few weeks earlier, but was still inflated and helpfully contained rain water from the last few days. In my haste to climb the fence I had left my handbag with my door keys in, on the driveway. Cue my second climb over the fence, this time with no down pipe to get in my way I triumphantly jumped down the other side only to hear a tearing noise as the hem of my jumper caught on the top of the fence (I really do dislike this jumper).

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And this was how the neighbours found me, my feet barely touching the floor, the hem of my jumper stuck fast on the top of the fence and me spinning around desperately trying to reach the hem and pull it off the fence. I’m guessing I probably won’t be invited to this year’s Christmas drinks and nibbles party!

It’s great when you reach a point with your hairdresser when he or she knows exactly what you want without you saying a word? You completely trust them and have every confidence you’ll leave the salon looking and feeling amazing. This means you don’t have to worry about anything and can just sit back in the chair and relax.

It can take a long time to reach this level of understanding and comfort with a hairdresser and going anywhere new can be a daunting experience. Did you know you can always book a consultation before having your hair done to fully discuss what it is you’re seeking? You don’t have to leave the explaining until you’re already sat in the chair with a pair of scissors being wielded over your head! This should be a complimentary appointment and gives you both the opportunity to get to know one another, discuss options and see if you gel. This is also a good chance to see how much it is going to cost.

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Whilst this gives you peace of mind, it’s also beneficial for your stylist too. It allows them a chance to see your hair before needing to style it, listen to your hopes and goals and gives them time to prepare how they can meet those goals. This is a highly recommended approach, especially when seeing a new stylist for the first time. For an appointment with a Hairdresser Gloucester, visit http://headkandyhairdressing.com/

Another beneficial thing to do is take in some photos of what style you’re seeking. Stylists are often highly visual people who like to see images of cuts and colours. It’s often much easier than trying to explain what you want in words alone. You might not use the right terminology to explain what you really want, and this can lead to miscommunication. With an image, you can both see it, be working from the same page and can discuss whether it’s achievable or not.

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Take a look through the hair board photos on Pinterest for inspiration, but keep in mind the colour and texture of your hair. Some cuts look more defined with a lighter hair colour, so discuss options if you’ve seen a great cut but the photo is of a blonde and you’re a brunette for example.

Especially when discussing colour choices, it’s important to have an image of the colour you want. It’s very difficult to explain the variations in shades, for example an icy blonde compared to a warm golden tone are very different. By showing an image of the exact colour you like the look of, you know there’ll be no confusion.

Early September saw the return of National Read a Book day. Now I don’t need an excuse to curl up on my sofa that I bought from Sofas Gloucester company https://www.gloucestersofasandbeds.co.uk/sofas/ with a nice warm cup of tea, or hot chocolate in the winter and start my journey into the world written between the pages of the book I am currently reading.

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Now, I have never been one for reading a book just because everyone else was. It was over a year after the first Harry Potter film was released before I started reading the series. I will however say that I always try to read the book before I see a film related to it. Not for any reason other than I find that once I have seen the film the image in my head when I read the story will always contain those actors and not the images that I create for myself. However, for once I wanted to find out what some of the top read books have been so far this year, I thought maybe it would give me some inspiration as to what to read next. What it actual gave me was a list of another twenty books that I want to peruse at some point.

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Here are two of the books I found on my search.

• The Mermaid and Mrs Hancock – Written by Imogen Hermes Gowar this novel is based in Georgian London and follows the life of a merchant and how he rises through the ranks of society after he is given a gift of a creature that is unusual and unlike any that has been seen before. He decides to display this creature to the public and his rise to the higher levels of society begins.
• The Lido – This is Libby Page’s debut novel and has already created quite a stir. The book is based around the community that develops around the people who regularly attend the Lido in Brixton, in particular the lives of Rosemary and Kate. Rosemary is an 86-year-old lady and is one of the key characters in the story. There are some beautiful reminiscence scenes where her past with her husband George is shown. In contrast to Rosemary is 26-year-old Kate who also spends much of her time at the Lido.

What books have you read so far this year and which ones would you recommend?

Long gone are the days when a person would have to manually dial a phone number, connect to an operator who would then reroute them to whomever they were trying to reach. Complicated switch boards and physical phone lines were once considered the fastest route for communication, and no one benefitted more from these advances in technology more than the emergency services. With the invention of phone lines, every home in America became a port for contacting help in a time of need. A nationwide number was eventually created to facilitate contact for fire, police, and emergency medical personnel. The first number was 999, established in Britain in 1937, according to Dispatch Magazine.

It wasn’t until 1968 when telephone behemoth and monopoly holder AT&T made 9-1-1 the official number for emergency services, many believe this was due to the country’s existing 6-1-1 and 4-1-1 schemes. The first call ever made to 9-1-1was placed by Rankin Fite, Alabama’s current Speaker of the House from Haleyville City Hall to Tom Bevill, a U.S. representative at the city’s police station. From there, 9-1-1 has a colorful and important history of protecting the nation’s citizens.

FROM LINES TO SATELLITES

Today, as landlines begin their final death rattle, and phones transition to mobile technology and satellites, the 9-1-1 services lines have had to adapt. Once, it was possible to pin-point the exact location of a 9-1-1 caller should the line be disconnected or express “dead air” (when there’s no caller on the other end of the line, sometimes signaling a dire emergency). As phone lines are no longer limited to a static place, but riding around in pockets on individuals walking, bussing, biking, and flying, the system but rely on new technology.

The technology currently in development is contacting emergency services through a 9-1-1 SMS line. Also known as text messaging, mobile users will, with this new system, be able to text their emergency details, location, and other pertinent information directly to dispatchers who can connect them with the appropriate response team.

According to Matt Hobson, a communications manager in East Baton Rouge, a parish currently making the switch, it’s an especially important tool which benefits the hearing-impaired people who may be unable to talk directly to dispatchers. As of October, 2014, according to the Pew Internet Project, 64% of all adults in the U.S. own a smartphone, meaning that each is a gateway to direct contact with emergency services.

TEXT MESSAGING AS SUPPORT

Text Messaging has quickly risen to become one of the most important and widespread forms of communications between people, companies, and other contact points (such as Amber Alerts and Severe Weather Warnings) to keep people informed. According to OpenMarket, SMS experts, companies are even expanding their customer care and support centers to text messaging, allowing customers real time contact from their smartphones without having to ever vocalize or wait in a phone queue.

As technology develops, so too do the basic support structures which keep the country operating. Phone lines will soon be replaced completely by satellite, and likely disappear completely as most grounded public pay phones become relics of a wired past.

August has been a bit of a wash out but don’t put away your shorts and t-shirts just yet. Perhaps we will be lucky and get an Indian Summer as September is often a warm and sunny month. Time then, to get that barbecue back out. Need to know how to throw the perfect barbecue? Here are some top tips:

One of the most important things is to make sure your grill is hot enough. It’s best to begin with a thoroughly clean, well-oiled and super-hot grill. For a gas grill, turn it on and leave for around 15 minutes before putting any food on it. Charcoal varieties will take a little more experience. You’ll need to develop an eye for when the coals are ready, but they normally take about twice as long as a gas grill. When the coal has developed a white-ashy exterior, spread them out evenly and you can begin.

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Always be sure to turn your meat whether cooking on gas or charcoal. It’s crucial for the meat to cook evenly, right the way through. Once cooked, place the meat in a little foil tent to let it soak up all its juices so it will taste amazing.

The barbecue staples include sausages and burgers, but you might want to switch things up a bit with your own bespoke menu. You could consider fish, kebabs, potatoes and grilling vegetables. If you’re inviting guests, make sure you have a variety of food to suit all tastes. For a lot of guests, remember it will be easier to keep things simple with prepping in advance.

Keep the drinks flowing while you’re busy cooking with Mobile Bar Hire Gloucestershire from https://www.wearethemoversandshakers.com/mobile-bar-hire-gloucestershire/

If you’re feeling experimental, you could try your hand at making your own burgers and sausages. There are loads of instructions on the internet and it’s far easier than you might think. Don’t forget your vegetarian guests might be happier with some of the delicious meat alternative products on offer. Just don’t cook them on the same grill as the meat!

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Spice things up a little with vegetarian or lamb kebabs. Buy some skewers and mix up the meat or veggies with courgette, peppers and onions for a delicious barbecue with a twist.

The key to relaxing and having a good time is to do as much prep as you can the night before or the morning before the barbecue. If everything is ready and all you need to do is fire up the grill when your guests arrive then you’re the master of barbecues!

Don’t forget the all-important sides to compliment your barbecue. No summer barbecue is complete without a bowl of potato salad, a leafy green salad and a large tub of coleslaw. These can also be prepared beforehand and make a delicious accompaniment to the main event.

Have plenty of condiments available so guests can tailor their hot dogs and burgers exactly how they like them. You’ll need things like mayo, ketchup, mustard and special burger relish.

To survive in this era of competition, every company needs to offer new products and services to their clients. But bringing out a new product and popularizing it to the customers isn’t easy, particularly if you don’t use a holistic product development approach. It needs proper understanding of the nature of market, requirements of the customer, cost, time and quality. That’s the reason why you should follow a full-fledged product development process that uses different variables to develop continuous practices and strategies for design, implementing and marketing a product in the market. The steps to this process are-

IDEA GENERATION:
Idea generation is crucial for product development process. When a new product is supposed to be launched, the organization or enterprise has to think of something that’s valuable for the customers. Therefore, through the use of product development software, the company should go for SWOT Analysis, wherein every idea’s strength, weakness, opportunities and threats are deliberated and discussed. Brainstorming for a new product, analysing it is essential before moving on to the next step.

IDEA SCREENING:
Once a few ideas have been brainstormed, the team should move onto the concept of idea screening, where unsound concepts are cleared to avoid wasting time. Ideas are screened for their potential or target market size and growth forecasts, current competitions, industry sales and trends, profitability and whether or not it is technologically feasible.

IDEA DEVELOPMENT AND TESTING:
Once one or more ideas are chosen upon, they are developed and tested. For instance, their engineering details will be developed, so as their marketing plan and product features. Then, it shall be tasted in a sample of target market to know their reaction and whether or not the product is deemed as cost-effective. Product feasibility is also taken to consideration.

BUSINESS ANALYSIS:
Estimations are made regarding the product, based on customer feedback and market competitors. Its profitability and break-even point shall also be taken into consideration.

BETA AND MARKET TESTING:
Product’s physical prototype or mock up is tested in the market, more often in its typical usage situations. Conduction of studies and introduction at product launches or trade shows. According to the initial reports, special adjustments are made and initial run is done to the market to see whether it is accepted by the customers.

TECHNICAL IMPLEMENTATION:
A quality management system is finalized for the product, along with resource estimation. A logistics plan is designed along with resource plan publication and contingencies (if needed).

COMMERCIALIZATION:
The process involves proper launch of the product in the market, along its critical path analysis. The distribution pipeline is filled with the product. Advertisement, online and offline promotion system is established for marketing the product among masses.

NEW PRODUCT PRICING:
This is the last step in product development process. It involves value analysis of the product, alternative competitive technologies and product costs deliberations. Product prices are selected along with a forecast for volumes, profits and revenue.

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Forming objects through the use of a vacuum is also called thermo-forming, because it’s a process that uses heat. It’s the way that many objects that we use every day are developed and made. At its simplest, a sheet of plastic is heated and then draped over a mould. Next, a vacuum is used to suck the plastic sheet into the mould. After this, the sheet is ejected, now in the shape of the mould.

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Obviously, there are variations to this basic process that are more sophisticated. Special pneumatic and heating controls can deliver high production speeds and produce very complex and detailed moulds in a range of finishes.

Clamping and Heating

From Polyester Copolymer to Polystyrene, Polypropylene, PVC, Polyethylene and Acrylic, the process can use a diverse range of thermoplastic materials. Two of the main processes these are subjected to are clamping and heating. See the pictures in this document to get an idea of the components used in the forming set-up: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1XeWDEWVADTHM1fkZCcQGk45XMeJ5cwC1MF4FkgCEgFw/edit#.

The plastic sheet has to be held firmly in place during the process. A sheet of up to 6mm thickness can be vacuum-formed using one heater, and twin heaters can form a sheet of up to 10mm wide.

The heaters themselves have an infrared element situated within a reflector plate, usually made of aluminium. The sheet has to be evenly heated, with the entirety of its surface heated, and heat transported through the whole thickness of the sheet. To achieve this, the heater has a number of zones controlled by regulators. Quartz heaters are generally faster to heat up than ceramic heaters and are therefore preferred in high-temperature applications.

How the Melting Is Controlled

The accurate control of the heating temperature depends on a sensor called a pyrometer. This picks up the melting temperature of the plastic sheet and passes this information to a process controller. According to https://www.bridgewooduk.com/production-assembly/vacuum-forming, when the vacuum forming needs to be carried out at a very precise temperature, twin quartz heaters are used because they can accurately form material at high temperatures. The heaters have to compensate for loss of heat from the plastic sheet caused by air currents, for example.

This is a great example of a basic process that has been adapted and refined to enable the high volume, low-cost production of sophisticated moulded products.

 

The Alpine Mastiff, Bernhardiner or St Bernard dog is a large, actually giant, working Dog famous for its ability to orchestrate mountain rescues and slobbering a lot. The national Dog of Switzerland, it is traditionally seen with a barrel around its neck that has a little tap and the letters XXX written on it. This is to give the lost person a revitalising alcoholic drink so imbibing them to get down the mountain.  In one film Donald Duck drinks too much of it after being rescued and the rescue dog join’s in with him. They start singing badly and loudly.

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Ok so that’s the Disney cartoon version of the famous Dog and whilst the dogs did not organise the actually rescue they were certainly used for them. It’s also thought that the bit about the barrel under the chin is true as well. This follows on from a famous painting by English master Edwin Landseer in 1820. It features two St Bernard’s trying to awaken a stranded mountaineer. They are a huge 90 cm high with a smooth coat and long hanging tale. Imagine trying to find somewhere for them to stay whilst their handlers were on holiday? Although I’m sure Dog Boarding Surrey firm https://nestledownboardingkennels.co.uk/ would have been able to help, if they had been a bit closer to Switzerland. They were originally known as Alpine Cattle Dogs used for farming. They were so large they were able to herd animals but also provide much needed protection against wolves and bears that were quite numerous in the mountainous regions. They are a working Dog and a hard working one at that.

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The name St Bernard is derived from the Monks that bred them at a Hospice located at the Great St Bernard Pass. This is an ancient pass that links Italy and Switzerland and has been used since ancient times. As it provided a gateway across the Alp regions there were many merchants and traders that used the pass and would get lost. The Monks and the Dogs were on hand ready for rescues. Hard to believe but the most bravest and successful rescue Dog was called Barry, although it’s more likely it was pronounced Berry in Swiss. Barry was responsible for getting a small boy to climb on his back and ride down a mountain with him, although that’s possibly just a story, but he was recorded as being involved in anywhere between 40 to 100 rescues of stranded travellers and mountaineers.

The dogs we see today are different from the traditional St Bernards as they are now all cross breeds. There is a reason for this. During two particular hard winters in the 1800s many of the breeding stock were lost to avalanches whilst on rescue missions. They were crossed with the Newfoundlands and this meant they lost the sleek fur to have it replaced with a long fur. The snow weighs down the dogs so they can’t function in the weather.  The dog enjoyed a renewed popularity following the Beethoven films and comedian Bernie Winters dog Schnorbitz.

There is an old saying “How do the Road Gritters get to work?” It’s usually a thing that DJ’s say when it’s snowing and your crawling along the A40. It’s also closely followed by a comment of how “here’s Coldplay to take us up to the news” and you wish the Gritters had done a better job, so you’re not stuck in the car having to listen to it. There is a simple answer, the Gritters are out the night before and got the job done. It might well be that your stuck in the carpark and haven’t even attempted to get home. If that’s the case, then it’s a quick call to get someone to do some Car Park Gritting done like http://www.contract-gritting.co.uk/. What actually happens when the grit hits the road.

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First of all, we no longer “grit” the roads anymore it’s actually rock salt that has been crushed. The main reason Rock salt is used is that it is much more of an environmentally friendly substitute to grit. In this day and age, we need this more and more. The Gritters (Rock Salters doesn’t have the same ring to it) spread the stuff all over the road the night before or well before the weather is about to close in. This is the how they get to work. They don’t wait until its actually snowing.

The most important part of the process is that once the grit is spread our cars, bikes and buses need to get out onto the road so that the rock salt gets mixed up creating a saline solution as you would expect as its Salt. Grit was not a great substance as it made for a slippery surface slightly defeating the object of the process. It also blocks drains.

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The problem with Salt is if the temperature drops below minus 4 centigrade then the salt starts to lose effectiveness below minus 10 and it becomes next to useless.  It’s worth using though as you need to remember that snow will not fall in those temperatures the saying “it’s too cold to snow” is actually pretty accurate. This is the reason why the rock element is added to increase its longevity.

If you think that there’s not enough grit down you should think again, two million tonnes of the stuff is put on the road. This costs about one hundred and fifty million pounds. However, if it saves lives, and it does as it makes the roads considerably safer, then that’s a fine cost to pay. So, don’t think “it won’t be gritted” it probably has and if you decide to go out then you really helping the clearing of the roads.