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A threefold understanding would emphasize the importance of alternative energy resources in the near future

• The reasons behind why the mentality towards the use of alternative energy resources will change, over the next half century.
• How this change (i.e. the use of alternative energy) will affect car technology.
• The various types of alternative energy resources that are available, or currently under research, especially for use in cars

The alternative energy advantage is the fact that they are renewable! We will never go short on supplies of renewable energy. For instance, solar energy – the sun will always be there! – the quantity of solar electricity intercepted by the Earth each 60 second is greater than the energy quantity that the entire human race uses in fossil fuels each year.

Wind energy – the wind will always exist – The power in the winds that blow across the US annually produces more than 16 billion GJ of electricity. Tidal energy – the moon will always be here and so will its forces that cause tidal waves. Hydroelectric energy – water energy will always be available unless there is an extreme change in rain patterns or droughts. Another advantage is that renewable energy is green; hence they don’t exude CO2, which is indeed the biggest provider to global temperature rises, into the atmosphere.

Bio-fuels are carbon neutral as manufacturing them depletes about as much CO2 as expending them produces. Considering these renewable energy advantages, it is apt for producing simple and inexpensive resources of energy. Non-renewable resources (for e.g. carbon-based fuels) are restricted – their supplies will eventually run out in the long run. Non-renewable resources like petroleum release CO2 into the surrounding atmosphere. These are inadequate sources of fuel that are speedily rarefying as the energy crisis is bearing down on us, continuously. Thus, we can firmly agree that the alternative resources are the Future and will provide for a Better Future.

What is the “future car”? A future car is a vehicle that runs on alternative fuels. “Alternative fuels” are fuels that are not made from petroleum. The types of alternative energy resources:

o           Alcohols – ethanol and methanol.

o           Compressed natural gas (CNG)

o           Electricity – stored in batteries.

o           Liquefied natural gas (LNG)

o           Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG)

o           Liquids made from coal – gasoline and diesel fuel that doesn’t come from petroleum.

o           Biodiesel – a lot like diesel fuel, but made from plant oil or animal fat. 

According to the experts, hydrogen-powered cars will be the next BIG change in our mode of transport. Theoretically it can be extracted from a wide variety of sources. The most common sources are Water; Natural gas (methane); Coal (via coal gasification); and Bio-mass (vegetation such as wood chips and agricultural waste).The processes for extracting hydrogen from these sources are diverse, predominantly in the case of water. To get hydrogen gas out of water, electrolysis is used-that is, electricity is used to extract the hydrogen molecules out of the water. From natural gas, a “reforming” process is used. For fossil fuels or biomass, the substrates are power-plant fuels themselves, which use them for generating both electric power and hydrogen.

The significance is plain and clear: we need an uncontaminated, renewable electric-generation technology. For now, the problem at hand is of discovering alternative energy solutions to power our vehicles. The mission is huge, but without doubt, it is attainable.

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Source by Gregoire R. Anaya

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Window tinting films are measured in visible light transmission levels (or VLT). This means that when we discuss a particular film, be it for fitting to a car or any other application, we normally refer to it with it’s VLT value. VLT is measured in percentage ( % ), so if you hear about a tint product being referred to as a percentage, it is the VLT that defines that percentage value.

For example, a tinting film referred to as Charcoal 5% is a charcoal coloured tint with a VLT of 5% and likewise a film referred to as green 50% is a green coloured tint film with a VLT of 50%. But what does the number actually mean?

Well, in simple terms the VLT value is the percentage of visible light that will be allowed to travel through the window tinting film from the exterior face side of the film to the interior side. This means that a 5% film will only allow 5% light travel through and a 70% film will allow 70% light to travel. In effect, this means that lower VLT films will appear darker. For instance, it is normally 5% tints that we will see on limousines for privacy.

So, fitting a 5% tint to a window will allow 5% light to travel through the glass from outside to inside, right? NO! Because we need to take into consideration the actual VLT of the window before the tint is even installed. There is no such thing as a piece of glass, no matter how clear it appears, with a VLT of 100%. This is because glass naturally filters out a little bit of visible light.

Lets look at car window tinting as this is one area where we speak of VLT often due to the fact that many countries have laws in place limiting how dark car windows should be tinted. Most modern cars come from factory with windows reading a VLT somewhere between 72% and 78%, depending on manufacturer, model and country. Say, our example car’s windows read at 72% and we add a 50% window tinting film, what is the new and final VLT of our car’s windows after installation?

The sum is very simple: V1 x V2 = V3 (Where V1 is the original VLT of the glass before tinting, V2 is the VLT of the window tinting film and V3 is the final VLT value of the glass with tint film applied).

Our car’s windows original VLT = 72% and the tint = 50 %, thus V1 = 72 and V2 = 50

The sum is 72 x 0.50 giving us 36, which we will express as a percentage. So a window with an original VLT of 72% will then have a VLT of 36% after application of a 50% film.

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Source by David Grice

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Read this before you sell your gold!

In this difficult economy, more and more people are selling their gold jewelry for cash. Have you seen the people standing out on street corners, spinning their “WE BUY YOUR GOLD” signs, beckoning you to their stores or booths?

There are a few things you need to know BEFORE you sell your broken and unwanted gold chains, earrings, bracelets, watches and rings. Below is the chart which shows how gold prices have skyrocketed in just one year:

What is your gold worth today?

So how do you calculate the price per gram weight on gold? It’s a little complicated. When your gold is purchased, it is then sent to a refiner. The refiner has a lot of overhead expenses, such as pricey equipment for environmental restrictions (alloys can contain very harmful agents), acids, labor, etc. plus there are impurities also. Your 14K gold may not be exactly 14K gold. Unless it states “14K P” on the hallmark of your jewelry, it probably is a tad less than 14K. The “P” means Plumb, or exactly 14K. The refinery will typically charge a 12 to 15% fee for refining down your gold or silver.

Here are equations that we use and will typically work as the NET per gram price, after refining fees: 10K gold: spot price X.0119 = price per gram 14K gold: spot price X.0168 = price per gram 18K gold: spot price X.0220 = price per gram 22K gold: spot price X.02745 = price per gram

You can easily find the current price of gold (spot price) on the Internet. Today gold is about $ 1500 per ounce. That means 14K will be worth: 1500 X.0168 = $ 25.20 per gram to the person that buys your gold. A good price for you to get today for 14K gold would be $17.00 per gram.

What you need to know:

1. If your jewelry has a gemstone(s) in it, chances are you will be giving it to the gold buyer. Almost all of these buyers are interested in ONE THING – the metal. Some of them don’t have a clue about colored gemstones. They usually know about diamonds, but very few know anything about colored gemstones. Some of these buyers will pay you their gold per gram rate for the gemstone, especially if it’s small to medium size. It’s easier for them just to weigh the entire piece of jewelry and pay you – besides, they’re usually making a lot of money on the transaction, and can afford to do it this way. It may not be a good deal for you however. For example… let’s say you have a 14K gold ring with a small blue gemstone in it. The gold buyer will weigh the ring and give you the price based upon the total gram weight of the ring, including the gemstone. That might great for you if that blue stone is quartz or topaz (less expensive colored gemstones), but what if it’s Apatite, Zircon, Aquamarine, Spinel, Blue Diamond, Sapphire, Paraiba or Indicolite Tourmaline,… etc.? Any of these gemstones are very valuable, and it probably would be a good idea to remove the gemstone and either reset it in a setting that you will wear or sell it. When you are talking about gemstones, the weight is measured in Carats. The conversion from Carats to Grams (what your gold is measured in) is: 5 Carats = 1 Gram. So, let’s say you have a 5 carat Paraiba Tourmaline and you choose to leave it in the setting. You will get a price of $15. per gram, so this Paraiba is worth $15. (1 gram). A little checking on the Internet will tell you that Paraiba can be worth upwards of $5,000 per Carat, or $25,000. (This is an extreme example, as Paraiba Tourmaline is copper-bearing and VERY rare, but it illustrates the point).

2. Let’s say you want to have a gold buying party. All of your friends come to the party with their gold jewelry that they don’t wear anymore and want that extra cash that their jewelry might bring. Did you do any price comparisons? There are a lot of people that put on these parties and make a fortune – on your jewelry. Do your homework! ASK THE IMPORTANT QUESTION – HOW MUCH WILL THEY PAY PER GRAM FOR Silver, 10K, 14K, 18K, 22K and PLATINUM jewelry. It’s much better to use an established, local resource for this party. Ask about security. How many people will be there from the buyer’s business?

3. As of this week, gold is at an all-time high, with the price for 14K to be at about $ 25. per gram. That means an HONEST Gold Buyer will purchase your 14K gold jewelry for about $15. per gram. That’s a good price. Some of the people that are putting on gold buying parties in your home, or in their stores are paying $9. or $10. per gram – that’s a ripoff! Just ask them how much they pay per gram, and comparison shop. This could save you hundreds of dollars!

4. What about Gold Filled, Gold Plated and Silver Jewelry? That is valuable too… same applies – ask the gold buyer what they will pay per gram, and price shop – it’s worth your time.

5. Do not ever – I repeat – ever mail in your gold jewelry to anyone for conversion to cash. They can rip you off any number of ways, i.e., underestimate the gram weight in their favor, etc. Once they have your jewelry, it’s out of your control.

6. Be VERY wary of the new gold buying shops that are popping up everywhere. You will fare much better at an established store that has been there for many years. Whether it’s a pawn shop or a jewelry store, I would give them your business. If their per gram price is less than their competition, I would give them the opportunity to match the price. These gold buying shops that pop up are typically a satellite store of a large business far away, are there for a short time and will severely hurt your long-time trusted local businesses.

7. Recently, there was a gold buying set up at a local Holiday Inn. They did a LOT of advertising, and there were a lot of people who brought their unwanted gold and silver to sell. I was SHOCKED at how people didn’t even realize that they were getting ripped off, and didn’t ask what they would be paid per gram. It turned out to be $ 5.00/gram. One woman had 63 grams of 14K gold (most people had more gold for sale). Because she didn’t realize she was being ripped off, she was thrilled with $315.00 she was paid. She didn’t realize that a fair price for her broken and unwanted jewelry should have been $1,008.00.

8. The current trend right now is Antique Jewelry. If you have really nice piece of Antique Jewelry, and you can’t keep it, get it appraised by a reputable Jeweler – but don’t tell them that you want to sell it (they may quote you a very low appraisal and try to buy it themselves). You might want to try eBay. You will only get wholesale pricing on the jewelry, but it will be better than the scrap prices offered.

9. Remember – the buying and selling of jewelry can be a lot like the car business. They talk “deals”, and some of them employ the same selling tactics. If you are looking to purchase some new jewelry, treat your unwanted jewelry like a used car trade-in. Get the appraisal on the jewelry first, including the gram weight, then negotiate on the new purchase.

In summary:

• always ask what the buyer is willing to pay per gram, 10K, 14K, 18K, 22K, Silver and Platinum

• shop and compare prices

• never mail your gold for cash

• try to do business with a local merchant (Pawn Broker or Jewelry Store). If they offer less per gram, give them the opportunity to match the price from the pop-up gold buyer

• only use a reputable LOCAL source if you are planning to have a gold buying party; be security conscious and shop for the best price per gram

• determine what the gemstones are in the unwanted jewelry before selling it… if they are worth anything, remove them

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Source by Mariel Baker

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What Is Commodity Trading?

Commodity futures markets allow commercial producers and commercial consumers to offset the risk of adverse future price movements in the commodities that they are selling or buying.

In order to work a futures contract must be standardised. They must have a standard size and grade, expire on a certain date and have a preset tick size. For example, corn futures trading at the Chicago Board of Trade are for 5000 bushels with a minimum tick size of 1/4cent/bushel ($12.50/contract).

A farmer may have a field of corn and in order to hedge against the possibility of corn prices dropping before the harvest he might sell corn futures. He has locked in the current price, if corn prices fall he makes a profit from the futures contracts to offset the loss on the actual corn. On the other hand, a consumer such as Kellogg may buy corn futures in order to protect against a rise in the cost of corn.

In order to facilitate a liquid market so that producers and consumers can freely buy and sell contracts , exchanges encourage speculators. The speculators objective is to make a profit from taking on the risk of price fluctuation that the commercial users do not want. The rewards for speculators can be very large precisely because there is a substantial risk of loss.

Advantages of commodity trading

Leverage. Commodity futures operate on margin, meaning that to take a position only a fraction of the total value needs to be available in cash in the trading account.

Commission Costs. It is a lot cheaper to buy/sell one futures contract than to buy/sell the underlying instrument. For example, one full size S&P500 contract is currently worth in excess off $250,000 and could be bought/sold for as little as $20. The expense of buying/selling $250,000 could be $2,500+.

Liquidity. The involvement of speculators means that futures contracts are reasonably liquid. However, how liquid depends on the actual contract being traded. Electronically traded contracts, such as the e-mini’s tend to be the most liquid whereas the pit traded commodities like corn, orange juice etc are not so readily available to the retail trader and are more expensive to trade in terms of commission and spread.

Ability to go short. Futures contracts can be sold as easily as they are bought enabling a speculator to profit from falling markets as well as rising ones. There is no ‘uptick rule’ for example like there is with stocks.

No ‘Time Decay’. Options suffer from time decay because the closer they come to expiry the less time there is for the option to come into the money. Commodity futures do not suffer from this as they are not anticipating a particular strike price at expiry.

Disadvantages of commodity trading

Leverage. Can be a double edged sword. Low margin requirements can encourage poor money management, leading to excessive risk taking. Not only are profits enhanced but so are losses!

Speed of trading. Traditionally commodities are pit traded and in order to trade a speculator would need to contact a broker by telephone to place the order who then transmits that order to the pit to be executed. Once the trade is filled the pit trader informs the broker who then then informs his client. This can take some take and the risk of slippage occurring can be high. Online futures trading can help to reduce this time by providing the client with a direct link to an electronic exchange.

You might find a truck of corn on your doorstep! Actually, most futures contracts are not deliverable and are cash settled at expiry. However some, like corn, are deliverable although you will get plenty of warning and opportunity to close out a position before the truck turns up.

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Source by Tim Wreford

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We have all had our “stories” to tell about our lives growing up. Some have had fun loving childhoods in which they had a stay-at-home mom, who had home baked cookies ready for them as soon as they walked in from school, clean clothes ready for the next day, and dinner simmering on the stove. Dads arrived home, everyone sat at the table and enjoyed the delicious meal that mom had prepared, and then while dinner dishes were being cleaned up, the kids could tell their dad about their day. Some had parents that encouraged them, helped them with their homework after supper, and enjoyed spending time with their kids before the next day started. You know, one of those “Leave It To Beaver” type of families. Then there were those who were minus one parents for one reason or another…usually divorce or death. Or what about those that lived with alcoholic or drug addicted parents who weren’t really “parents” at all. Their kids were basically were on their own, raising themselves, fending for themselves, and making the most of bad situations.

I don’t know why I am sharing this right now. I just feel led to let someone out there know that you are not alone! That you can live a normal life. I have been molested by 4 different men between the ages of 8 – 14. But, the LORD GOD Himself, brought me through this all. I have been been redeemed and washed clean by the blood of the Lord. I no longer have to live in life of my molestation taking charge over me any longer.

I was one of those kids who had my own “unique” circumstances when growing up. My parents divorced when I was 7, though my dad moved out when I was 5 ½. I was the oldest of the three of us. We moved to a small town to live closer to my grandparents, my mom’s parents. We moved from the bigger metropolis of Denver, CO, to the small town of Julesburg, CO. At first, when I was younger, I’d made my lifelong friend with the girl who lived across the street from my grandparent’s house. This was the summer before our 2nd grade school year. During the time, our lives seemed somewhat “normal” playing babies, or pretending to be teachers at school, or building ant farms…

But during my lifetime, many things happened that made me who I am today. I cannot begin to tell you what my life was like and do it justice! There are so many more stories I could tell you! For one, we moved and lived in 27 different places from the time I turned 7 – 18. I went to 11 schools in 12 years time. I think that that with us moving so often, I took with me idea that “I better make friends quickly, because sure enough we’d be moving and I’d have to leave.” I believe my sister took the theory that “why bother making friends because we were going to move anyway.” And my brother, well, being a boy, keeping a friend wasn’t that big of a deal, and he made friends fairly easy, but it wasn’t as big an issue for him as it was us girls.

When I was 8, my mom began dating a Japanese farmer in our area, quickly becoming engaged, with the last name of Kinoshita. As you can imagine, the 3 of us kids made quite fun of that name at the time by intentionally pronouncing it, Kin-O-Shit-A. Mean, weren’t we? Well this is the first time that I consider myself being sexually molested. After suppers, my mom would go to the kitchen to wash dishes at his house, and the 3 of us kids and her boyfriend would lie on the floor to watch some TV. Well her fiance’ would use this time to “rub my tummy.” Now I was 8, so needing my tubby rubbed after dinner seemed really weird to me, but I thought, okay, I suppose if this is normal? It made me uncomfortable, but my mom said he was only trying to be nice. Okay, so nice it was…I guess?? But then those tummy rubs, turned into “roaming fingers,” and climbed a little higher and a little higher. Soon my tummy rubs became chest rubs. Now mind you, I had barely started developing, but still had just enough that this made me incredibly uncomfortable! My mom had said that she really wanted this marriage because he was financially well off, and so each night that this went on, I tried to keep myself busy with homework so we didn’t have to lie on the floor and watch TV, but one way or another, he coaxed me in to it, and my mom had told us several times that she didn’t want this relationship messed up by us kids. So, I kept my mouth shut, until one day, on the way home from school, I let it all out to my friend. She went home and talked to her mom. I didn’t know what they were talking about, because her parents only spoke Spanish, so I didn’t think much of it. However, her mom, having heard what was going on, assured me that they were there for me, and that this was something that I had to talk to my mom about right away. So with my friend and her mom both sitting there, I called my mom and told her what had been happening. I don’t know much how was actually said between my mom to her new fiance’, but I do know that she broke up with him. However, my friend’s mom suggested that he be turned in to the police, but my mom said that it was pointless to call the police because “he was so rich that he can own the town, so no one will believe you anyway. It would be his word against yours,” she said. So, life went on as “normal.” Okay, normal as normal could be.

Then my mom found a younger guy who could come over in the mornings and stay with us, when she went to work at 6:00 AM at the truck stop, and he got off at 6:00 AM from working the all night shift there, and would come stay with the three of us kids for the day, as our “babysitter.” Oh he was fun, would make us breakfast, take us to the school or the park to play on the playground, and chase us around the house playing tickle monster. However, when he first got to the house each morning, instead of climbing in to my mom’s empty bed to sleep for a while, he would climb in to my bed with me. Why? Well there were those “roaming fingers” again. Except this time, these fingers roamed up, and then down. I was 9, and he was 21. What did I have at that age that was so enticing anyway?! I hadn’t even started physically developing yet for goodness sake!!! At any rate, this went on for weeks. I told my mom, but she she thought that since I had been through this with her ex-fiance’, then “it must me something I was doing to encourage these guys.” So, though he stopped watching us, I remember wishing him dead. I did. I couldn’t help myself. I just wanted him dead so he could never do something like this again! A couple of months later, while he was working at the electric company, and his partner decided to start drinking some beer on their lunch break. Well Curtis had climbed the pole to work on a specific wire that was causing them trouble, and was electrocuted. He fell from the pole, and his partner, having been drinking, wasn’t functional enough to give him mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. I knew it was all my doing! I had prayed and asked for him to die, and he had. You see, it was all my fault…I had wished it, and prayed for that. I just knew it was my fault. I held on to that guilt for many, many years after that. Someone was dead and it was all my fault.

Then, we had a family friend, who we’d been friends with he and his wife for years. In fact, most times, we loved going over to their house. She was like an adopted mom to us kids, and we could convince her husband to come play games with us, read us stories, etc. You should have heard him read one of the Dr. Seuss books backwards! It was a riot! And it was a tongue twister reading it from front to back, let alone reading it back to front! And we used to love tricking him in to asking for Big Macs at Burger King! So, needless to say, we would go over to their house quite often. Usually though, I got the big bed with his wife because we always went to bed much earlier than he did, and he slept on the couch when we stayed, or in the spare bedroom. His wife would usually send me in to wake him when it was time for us all to get up each morning. That’s when those infamous “roaming fingers” would start roaming again. I was between the ages of 10 – 12 during most of this time. But, without telling my mom, (remember how she had decided the last time that I must be the one to enticing these “men,”) that sure enough, it must be something about me, and once again, I was at fault.

Well over time, we’d moved again like we had done numerous other times before, and so we didn’t see them as often as we had before. It was in the beginning of our 8th grade year, so I was in one school there in Jr. High, and suddenly we left CO and headed to good ole’ IA. My mom had broken up with a trucker guy she was dating, a real nutty guy who used to set up candles in a circle in our basement, and call on the spirits from the Mojave Dessert. So, we packed up as soon as we got home from school that day, took only our few very important possessions (and I do mean very few), and our cats, and loaded up a small little U-haul trailer, and off we headed out with no where specific in mind. My mom suggested IA, so off we headed West. We ended up in Council Bluffs and out of money. So, this is where we decided to stay.

Of course, we’d switched schools again, for the umpteenth time, and we started yet another school in Council Bluffs, while we lived in a one room cabin with 2 double beds, one bathroom, a crock pot to cook in and three cats. We started one school, but were the “poor kids” and didn’t fit in well. But, once again, we moved. This time it was a good thing. I was starting in the 9th grade, but at a completely different school. This school was much better, much more acceptable, much less judgmental, and critical, and we weren’t treated as “low class scum” here.

I was finally 14 at this time. My last year before I got to start high school. I was so excited! I was finally growing up, started wearing makeup, fixing my hair, and thinking about the big “B” word…BOYS!!! We were living in a house fairly near the school, so it was in walking distance. My mom was once again working at one of the truck stops nearby. But money was tight, so my mom brought a truck driver home to live with us to help pay the bills. Well this guy was 28. My mom worked the all night shift at the truck stop, and Terry would be home most nights, and on runs during the days for the most part. Well Terry took quite a liking to me immediately. Now mind you, I had just turned 14. My sister and I shared a bedroom, my brother had one to the left of us, and across the hall was Sue’s room (a girl/lady in her early 20s from Indiana), someone that Terry had found hitch hiking one day on his trip out-of-town, and brought to our house to stay with us too. So, that was one more person to help pay the bills. But, to get to the bathroom, we had to walk through a little hallway, and we had to go through Sue’s room to get there. Then to the left was the bathroom, and then to the right was Terry’s bedroom. My mom’s room was on the main floor. In between the bathroom and Terry’s bedroom was a second door. The door locked from Terry’s side of the room, but not from his room into the bathroom. Well at night, once Terry thought all of us kids were asleep in bed, he would come into my room, and once again, night after night, those infamous “roaming fingers” of yet another guy, would start their traveling. He would come in, with a condom on, already ready for whatever I guess he had hopes for. He would ask me to put on something “sexy.” I didn’t have anything “sexy” because I was 14-years-old, and “sexy” was not something I was thinking about at that point in my life. Heck, just getting my makeup to look good in the morning, and curling my hair before school was as “sexy” as it got. His fingers roamed places that I didn’t know existed. I used to pray, “Please Lord, let him think that I’m really asleep and go away tonight.” Or I’d pray, “Please Lord, let my sister wake up so that she’ll make enough noise or something that he’d go away and leave me alone.” He never got to the stage where we actually forced full fledged sex on me, but night after night, we went through this ritual. Night after night he would go back to his room, and I would disgustedly cry myself to sleep. Night after night I wished my sister would please just WAKE UP, just this once. But, she never seemed to, or so I thought, until many years later when I found out that she said that she was afraid to let us know that she was awake, because she was afraid he would come to her next. I can’t blame her for that. I wished I could pretend so he’d leave me alone too, but, that wasn’t the case.

Well one day Sue had asked me to go for a walk with her to talk. So, I did. She started telling me that Terry would come in to her room almost every night and do these “things” to her, ask her to “put on something “sexy,” and his “roaming fingers” would start roaming with her too. That’s when it all came out…I spilled what he had been doing to me as well. I pleaded and pleaded with her not to tell my mom because my mom would say, yet once again, that “it must be something I was doing to entice guys like this.” My fault again. Well Sue, knowing how young I was, ended up telling my mom after all. So, my mom went and confronted Terry. He told her that he did it to me because “He loved me soooooo much that he couldn’t resist wanting to make love to me.” Well my mom told him to pack up and get out of our house. We went to my mom’s friend’s house for a few days while he moved out and because they were one vacation and needed someone to house sit and care for their pets. So, we stayed there 3 nights and 4 days. Once we got back home, Terry was gone, and life seemed to go back to “normal” again. Sue and I felt such great peace having him gone. Then one day, about a week later, my mom said that she had to go to the truck stop because Terry wanted to talk to her about something. So, she left and was gone for several hours. When she came back, she said that Terry had convinced her that he really did do what he had done “because he loved me,” and she said that it was a small price to pay since he offered to help pay even more of the bills we had. So, she let him move back in to our house with us. For the first week or two, he was very polite, pulled out the chairs for me when we would sit down at the table, and insisted on driving me to school so that he could kiss me good-bye each day to “let people know that I was his.” At this point, I tried to convince myself that okay, maybe he did really love me, and that I should be proud and flattered that someone the age of 28 would like me, a 14-year-old teenage girl.

Well a few more weeks went by and things had gone back to the way they were. My mom would go to work all night, and Terry would once again come back in to my room at nights, with condom in hand, and his roaming fingers would once again, starting roaming up and down, up and down. The words he spoke made me sick. And every night, it was was same, I would sickeningly cry myself to sleep because I could no longer deal with this at my age, and I was supposed to be having fun in school, looking forward to my high school years, dances, proms, sports events, etc. But instead, I wouldn’t see a future at all. One day, I had had enough, and could no longer take it! I know my mom wanted and needed the money, but I couldn’t pretend that I was okay anymore. I wasn’t. I wanted to die. Yes, truly die! If it had not been for the Lord putting in my path a certain girl at school, who I quickly became best friends with, and my Science Teacher, whom I will never forget and always be grateful for, I might have ended it there. But, God obviously had other plans for me. Just when I thought that He had left me all alone, He provided me with a friend, and a man who not only was my teacher, but one who genuinely cared about me, who knew that I was going through something terrible at home, who gave me compassion, extra time when I just couldn’t concentrate on my assignments, and someone who could make me laugh. I needed that. It brought back hope to me that ALL men did not just want me for sex. That older men were not all perverts, and that God had put him in my life, as my teacher, just in the nick of time.

Today, by God’s grace, forgiveness, and compassion, I have been forgiven my the blood of the lamb, the Lord Jesus Himself. The person who died on that cross many, many years ago so that I might have life everlasting. The one who pulled me out of the darkness and back in to the light. The one who took away all my hurts and distrusts in men. I thank God that though I had to suffer through those awful times, that I came to learn that it was not my fault that the one guy had been electrocuted and died. That NONE of the things that these four men did to me as a child, were my fault.

To this day, my mother still says, “IF those thing really happened to Kelly, then I guess I should have protected her more.” IF those things happened? IF?!?! There is no question that they happened me! My sister once told her that she knows it to be fact because most times she was in the same bed with me, as we almost always shared a bedroom while growing up. I no longer expect that my mother will ever take any responsibility for what I went through. I know that now. I know that I have to forgive her so that Christ can forgive me for my sins. But it is truly, and only by the Grace of God Himself, that I am still here today. It is my prayer that maybe, just maybe, this testimony will help someone else who has been through something similar, or worse, that there IS hope in Jesus Christ. You are not alone. It is NOT your fault. Give it to HIM, as His shoulders are strong enough to take it from you and let you now walk freely in His love.

*Names of people have been changed to protect those others who were involved.

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Source by Kelly Benedict

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INTRODUCTION

Nowadays the use of mobile laboratories is vital for those situations where needed:

– On site analysis and surveillance

– Agility and quick response

– Logistics cost reduction

– Implementation process facilitate

Their main duties are:

– On field support to a central or bigger laboratory. For sampling and first evaluation analysis, with materials testing.

– Working as a full operational laboratory, carrying out all the test and analysis required.

Each mobile laboratory must be designed and equipped according with the tasks to be fulfilled.

The tailored made design allows to be used for any of customer application

– Environmental and quality control (air, wáter, soil, wastes, etc)

– Supervision and verification of infrastructures: roads, bridges, railways, etc

– Communication campaigns and social awareness

– Basic medical assistance

TYPE OF UNITS

OPTION A: Industrial Van type vehicle

The most agile and cost effective version for quick displacements

Consisting on:

– Vehicle van-type

– Interior adaptation for the equipment carriage and usage

– Electrical and air conditioning installation

– Work space up to 12 m3

– Maximum load authorized: 6500 kg

OPTION B: Light vehicle basis with tailored made body.

Same structure as option A, but with the rear part designed and constructed fully adapted to the project requirements.

Specially recommended for the simultaneous work of more than 1 technician

Consisting on:

– Vehicle van-type structure.

– Laboratory construction: tailor design for each application

– Laboratory length up to aprox 5.300m

– Maximum load authorized: 6500 kg

OPTION C: Heavy vehicle basis with tailored made body.

The best selection for those laboratories with permanent movement demand and high working space needs.

Consisting on:

– Heavy truck structure.

– Laboratory construction: tailor design for each application

– Laboratory length up to aprox 7 m

– Maximum load authorized: 16 tons

OPTION D: Trailer

The best solution for long stationary working periods. Low cost in relation with the working capacities. It demands an external towing vehicle. Several towing fixtures according with on site laws consisting on:

– Flat platform trailer:

+ Two axis.

+ ABS.

+ Braking actuator.

+ Lighting signals.

+ Stainless treatment.

+Laboratory construction: tailor design for each application

+ Laboratory length up to aprox 7 m

+ Maximum load authorized: 16 tons

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Source by D. Garcia

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If you can weld now or want to weld, is that a big deal? Yes and no.

Welding can be a very difficult skill to acquire and take years – or an afternoon (or a few days) at home. The question is, are you making any stinking money at it? Yes, you love to weld (I do to). Why are some welders rolling in money and others are so broke it isn’t funny? Get answers, NOW.

Let’s see, anyone can pop into Home Depot and buy a little Lincoln flux core welder and learn to weld in an afternoon or a day or two? Yes.

The welder I’m referring to is about the size of carry-on luggage and plugs into any 120 volt socket. Follow the instruction booklet (always reading the safety portion and applying all of it – please) and that person can be running a decent bead on the flat, just like that. Really – in a few hours of paying attention you can be running decent beads with good penetration.

The REAL question is, can you take that skill and make money?

Think about it – you can read this article, hop in the car, buy the welder, plug it in and weld for a few hours and have a “skill” at some level. What does that make you? It makes you a person with a very limited skill, but a skill none-the-less.

When I was 13 I welded up the exhaust on one of my many cars (I flipped cars for profit from age 11 to 22). Welding came in handy on older cars from the early 60s and even the early 50s because they were “heavy metal.” I wasn’t a great welder at that point, but being able to weld could make the difference – it allowed me to do repairs and “add value” to a car. Instead of flipping burgers at Mickey Ds, I was able to always have plenty of money.

Later, at age 19 and just out high school, I built gates – nice gates which look great today, 40 years later. I was self-educated in welding and I highly recommend it (welding self education and self education for almost any skill).

So why is the title of this article: “Welding Sucks?” Well, for most welders, it sucks. It is not fun when you get stuck with a limited skill in a factory not making enough money and acting like a robot all day long.

What can you do to make welding fun again?

When you first started welding, it was fun. You didn’t need to make money at it right away. AND everyone around you told you there would be a “good job” waiting for you when you got good at welding – so you kept at it.

Maybe you went through one or two years of welding education – and then the truth hit you like a brick wall. You found out that no one wanted to pay you big money for welding…

What is the secret?

What is the well guarded secret no one seems to tell welders? It is marketing. If you can MARKET your skill – no matter what that skill is – if your skill is welding or washing windows, if you can MARKET that skill, you will make all the money you and your family need. If you can’t, you won’t. That is when welding is NOT fun – when you can’t make good money at it.

What can you do about it?

Step # 1:

Stop thinking “Job.” J-O-B stands for “Just Over Broke.” If you want to live your life that way, get a job or keep the one you have.

What is the difference between a window washer working for someone else and window washer making great money for 28 years?

I met Suzy the other day. Suzy lives in a waterfront home with a dock. Suzy has a new GMC 4 door truck (very nice). Suzy no longer bothers to advertise her business. Suzy has been cleaning windows as an independent window cleaner for 28 years. She doesn’t need to advertise.

Why am I telling you about a window cleaner?

Suzy became an INDEPENDENT window cleaner 28 years ago. She employs 3 window cleaners and pays each of them $10 an hour. Suzy collects $20 an hour for every hour her window cleaners work. Suzy also runs a fourth truck herself. Add it up – Suzy makes $30 an hour from her workers and she makes another $20 an hour for the hours she works. Suzy makes $100,000 a year washing windows. This is called “Capitalism.”

Why do you need to be a Capitalist?

We live in a capitalist society. This means that if you weld now for $10 an hour, you can weld as an independent welder for $30 an hour (or more) simply by being “in business” instead of being a “a working drone” for someone else. Is that hard to believe? Believe it – it is simply TRUE!

$30 an hour is cheap for a welder.

I am telling you – you can make $30 an hour next week with minimum welding skills, if you understand and apply basic marketing skills.

What about immigrants? Meet Tom:

Tom (not his Viet Namese name) is one of the nicest people I have even encountered. Tom is 60. In 1980 Tom was one of 25 people crowded on a small fishing boat pulling away from Communist Viet Nam and headed for Hong Kong – escaping at the risk of his life – to a new life of freedom.

The captain of the boat put a gun by the compass. It screwed up the compass. They were lost at sea. They ran out of gas. They ran out of food. The seas grew wild. Tom was pretty sure they were all going to die.

They saw a ship in the distance. They waved their coats. They were given food and gas told which way to go to reach Hong Kong. Tom made it to the U.S. Tom was totally and completely broke – and he spoke no English.

Working an assortment of jobs 15 hours a day, Tom saved money. He met Lany and they saved. They opened a nail salon and then another. Today, Tom and Lany are comfortable in America. Their home is nearly paid for and they have a large retirement. Why? Tom and Lany worked hard – and understood marketing. And yes, they had a skill – they started by becoming licensed to do nails. Can you see – “doing nails” was only part of their of their success – actually the small part.

What has this got to do with welding?

Everything! However, welding has so many advantages over window cleaning and doing nails! You can start right now and be an entry level welder, working for yourself a week from now, if that is what you want. Unlike window cleaning and nails, you can advance your welding skills as you go – teaching yourself from home – until your welding skills are worth (are you sitting down) $100 an hour.

Don’t run over to Home Depot and buy a welder (yet).

If you buy the right welder used and do the right things with marketing, you can be in business and working all you want in 2 to 3 weeks. How? It requires mastering a few marketing basics – and hard work – but if a Viet Nam boat person who could not speak English can do it, you can too.

Conclusion:

You success has nothing to do with money or the economy. It has to do with you believing in you. From there, you only need to pay attention to what really matters.

What should you do next?

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Source by Scott R. Linden

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(1975, 545th Ordnance Company, Nuclear Site, West Germany)

The structure was built to withstand a nuclear blast. Around the site were high trees, sidewalks that lead to bunkers that had half dozen nuclear bombs in them (see interlude for details). The trees and foliage were high enough that only a small plane a hundred feet or so, over the site could see it, and it was forbidden by the German Government to allow any flights over the site. The young sergeant of twenty-seven, well built, auburn hair, with bluish-green eyes, had just taken over another sergeant’s shift; he was on what was called ENREST (Nuclear Surety, watchdogs). Each sergeant at the site, who had a Top Secret clearance, was put on the ENREST roster, as was every officer with a Top Secret Clearance, it was a twenty-four hour duty, once a month, and neither that sergeant or officer was to leave the bunker area. At night the doors were locked and bolted, front doors, one to the bunker, the other to the ENREST room within the bunker, where the orders came in.

As Sergeant Chick Evens listened he could hear the night winds over the bunker. At the same time he could hear a five-ton truck bringing in a new shift of Military Police, who guarded the site, twenty-four-seven. He licked his lips, to moisten them, it was a very hot night, he took off his shirt, only his undershirt on, the fat captain, lay snoring on his iron cot on one side of the room, as he sat on his iron cot, on the other side of the room. The room was twelve feet by twelve feet. The young captain was named Horace Worme. The sergeant had seen his file, and his college transcripts, since he was the NCO, in charge of the Nuclear Surety Program Investigations, and often wondered how a captain could become a captain, with 90% of his semester grades “D”. I mean he had more “D” grades than anything he had ever known, not one A, or B, a few C’s. He had gone to college himself and had a Bachelors Degree, and had gotten one D, and that that was fault-finding.

Evens watched the fat Captain, there was no one else to watch, heavily breathing, sweating, and the wind just kept swirling over the structure, as his perspiration soaked into the mattress. Then he got up and paced the floor, he never liked ENREST. He had told the Captain one of them had to stay up, watch the phones, the incoming data, read the printouts incase there was an alert. It was a two man control process, but only one need be up at a time during the night hours, but he also knew this captain never liked pulling duty, he left the sergeants stay up all night while he slept it away, but Evens said no to this crap, he was going to do his duty, just like him.

He tried to wake the captain up at 2:00 a.m., for him to take over the night shift, his time was up, but the captain wouldn’t wake up. Matter of fact, the Captain said, “Leave me alone, that’s an order sergeant!” And so the Sergeant laid face down on the cot, his chin on the pillow, his arms, stretched out.

“It’s foolish,” he said out loud hoping the Captain would hear “you can’t expect me to take your shift also, and read the data correctly,” messages came in from what was considered The European Central Command all the time. And it had to be translated, it was in code, and one man had to break open a white seal, after reading the message, and doing the decoding, the other man checked it out, and they would follow procedure. If it was a red seal, then it was for an alert, high priority, and then it would go to a second seal if necessary. A white seal was less complicated. But often a white seal lead to a red seal, and that meant war; and the Cold War of course was with the Russians. Their premise was, if it went to the red seal, the nuclear stomachs (nuclear cylinders)-so I called them-of the bombs needed to be sunk underground.

(Interlude: It is hard to express the makeup of a nuclear bomb and its destructive capacity in a simple paragraph, and I have seen the insides of them, but let me express it in the most fundamental, if not, oversimplified manner: there are two parts to the nuclear bomb I am talking about, some have three parts, the secondary part of the nuclear bomb-about a half dozen of them were stored at the site, this is the part I saw, of a cylinder type design. Those bombs were 9 to 50-megatons-plus, some were Titan II (ICBM), the Titan fleet was retired in 1988; the fireball of one of those Titan missiles, were three-miles in diameter, its destructive forces would most likely destroy all structures in a ten-mile range, or three-hundred square miles. One kiloton is equal to 1000-tons of TNT, kilotons are measured in thousands of tons; Hiroshima witnessed a 15-kiloton bomb; called ‘Little Boy,’ and Nagasaki witnessed a 20-kiloton nuclear bomb called ‘Fat boy’-thereabouts; whereas, megatons are measured by millions of tons of TNT. The secondary part of the bomb is the bottom part; the primary is at the top. I need not say more for this story.)

When the young sergeant woke, it was still dark outside; he heard an incoming message on the machine, printing out for him to read and decode. He stood up, walked over to the desk where the machine was spitting out paper, and a message was being printed out, coming, he went to wake the Captain up, told him, “You got to decode the message, along with me. Or at least read it after I decode it.”

“No, you decode it”, he said, “I’m tired.”

He started to decode the message, and fell back to sleep, without reading it clearly. As was the Captain’s job; one looking over the shoulder of the other.

It was now 6:15 a.m., and the phone rang. The sergeant passed it over the Horace, saying “The Major, wants to talk to you for some reason.”

He stood to the side of the phone, half in a daze, the phone heavy in his right hand, “Yes sir,” said the Captain, “what is it?”

Captain Worme, drew back like a double bolt of lightening, grabbed the decoded message, “Didn’t you decode this last night,” he yelled, to the sergeant.

“Of course I did,” said the Sergeant, the decoded part is right where the message you just picked up was.

“Hello,” said the Captain, to the Major, “The Sergeant said he did decode the message.”

“Well didn’t you read it?” yelled the Major so loud, the Sergeant could hear him.

“Yaaay! No, I guess I didn’t, why?” said the Captain.

“Because,” said the Major, “we are the only nuclear site; no, matter of fact, we are the only site in all of Europe not on alert, and the Colonel wants to know why our gates are wide open, as if it is a normal day. I want to see you in an hour and read that damn coded message and get back with me in five minutes.”

“So sergeant,” Captain Worme said to Evens, and started to read the decoded message, “it looks like you decoded it properly, why didn’t you wake me up and call an alert?”

“I did wake you up, and you gave me an order to leave you alone, after I told you, you needed to review the decoded message, as it is supposed to be, and you were insistent, and I was tired, and fell to sleep.”

“It was stupid not to act upon the message!”

“Ayee! Be careful captain. I did my duty, and you didn’t pull any duty at all, that can be called duty.”

After the Captain had come out of the Major’s office, he stopped Sergeant Evens, “So what’s going on?” asked the sergeant.

“I’m sorry to inform you, I think they will be some charges against you perhaps a court-martial; too many things to cover up.” Now the sergeant knew how he got past those “D’s” of his in college, he was a conniver.

“Well,” said the sergeant, “if I go down, so do you! Evidently they don’t know my part of the story; I’ll have to make a report sooner or later and inform them. Did they know it was you who gave me a Direct Order, to leave you sleep?” (And the sergeant knew, a Direct Order, from a commissioned officer, must not be in conflict with established law, and it was.)

“I’m not sure,” he said.

“What is there to be sure of, you told them or you didn’t, and I guess you didn’t.”

“I better go back there, and settle this before it goes out of control.” It was funny thought the Sergeant, he didn’t blink an eye, and he must have been testing the water to see if he’d take the blame.

“It’s very good, if you do, I’ll just stand here awhile.”

When the Captain had come back, all was settled.

“We are all soldiers,” said the Captain, “the thing to do is just forget today ever happened, and don’t say a word to anyone about this sergeant, okay? If you let this leak out, we’re all dead. We were with an attack, alert, the Red Brigade, some anti German group has tried to storm one of our nuclear sites, and an alert was called because of that, and we screwed up. Had they come here to our site, God only knows what would have happened. The gates were wide open, and they could have taken hostages.”

“Yes,” said the Sergeant (looking over at the gates now closed and secure),standing to his right side. “I never heard of it.”

“Heard of what?” said the Captain. Again the sergeant thought of all those ‘D’s’ the captain had gotten.

“No one will ever hear of it, that’s what!” Said the Sergeant, then he thought: ‘…someone might have died because of our neglect-‘ and he just wanted to get away from there.

Note: The 545th Ordnance Company was activated in 1942. In 1950, it was activated in Japan, and in 1959 it was active in West Germany, by Muenster-Dieburg; inactivated in June, 1992; area given back to Germany, in 1994. No: 715 1-24-2011)

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Source by Dennis Siluk Dr.h.c.

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IICRC stands for Institute of Inspection, Cleaning and Restoration Certification. Carpet Cleaning Technician, S100, is a designation that a carpet cleaner needs to prove that he or she is compiling with the most prevalent standards in the carpet cleaning industry. It has become increasingly important for a professional who is performing carpet cleaning services to have the “CCT” designation. There are some new carpets manufactured where the certification is not only suggested, but required. In other words, if you are cleaning carpets that require you to have the certification and you are not certified then the warranty on the carpet is void and you become liable.

I took my first class about 19 years ago and took my first test soon after. The material and the test have evolved greatly since that time. A new addition arrives this year. The CCT community has been working diligently on the new material for the past few years and it looks better than ever before.

These are some items you should know about the test:

Get the manual from your Instructor prior to attending the class (if possible). Read a few pages everyday. Usually the highlighted parts in the manual are extremely important to know and will probably be seen on your test. The test has a total of 160 multiple choice questions. The correct answer is not always the only right answer, but rather the best answer. Currently the answers need to be filled in on a Scan-tron sheet with a #2 pencil. There is no time limit for you to complete the test. You need to get 75% to pass. It may take up to six weeks to get your results and they are mailed directly to you. It is also available in Spanish if you request to take it Spanish when registering. The certification you get is a personal certification and stays with you regardless of who you work for. The cost of the test is currently $50. Cash, personal check, business check and credit cards are accepted. Checks need to be made to the IICRC.

Although I can’t tell you the questions on the test, I can give you a good example of what you will see on the test. Answering the questions below will also help you in figuring out how well you’ll perform on the test.

IICRC Test Examples:

1) Which of the following fibers are protein based: (A) Olefin (B) Wool and Silk (C) Polyester (D) Cotton and Jute

2) The temperature at which a dry solvent will ignite is called: (A) Explosion (B) Ignite (C) Flash point (D) Emulsion

3) When the primary backing and the secondary backing separate, what is it called? (A) Messed up (B) Delamination (C) Separation (D) Fluffing

4) What percentage of soil is insoluble in water? (A) 43 to 45% (B) 74 to 79% (C) 22 to 26% (D) Varies

5) Where should you empty your waste tank? (A) Storm drain (B) Street (C) Sanitary sewer (D) Your fresh water tank

6) TACT is an acronym for what? (A) Time Act Clean Truck (B) Time Agitation Chemical Temperature (C) Tufted carpet (D) 4th generation carpet

7) The process of drying is called? (A) Wicking (B) Capillary Action (C) A and B above (D) None of the above

The purpose of the test is to make sure that a technician learns as much as possible to do his/her job well. If you need carpet cleaning supplies or just want to talk, you are welcome to contact me. I would be happy to help you in your endeavor to learn. You can also find answers to these questions there under Articles Tab and then Test Answers.

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Source by Taf Baig

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Bare steel will rust in a couple days when expose to the elements. To prevent this, the surface of bare steel needs to be coated. The majority of steel building manufacturers use red-oxide primer on all structural steel components. There are some that use galvanized light gauge secondary steel as their standard material while leaving the heavy rigid frames with a red-oxide primer. So what is the difference between the two and are there any advantages to galvanized secondary steel?

For most applications red-oxide primer is better suited than a galvanized finish. This is why red-oxide is used in most commercial and agricultural construction from backyard sheds to the tallest skyscrapers. Of course there are some instances where galvanizing is recommended. Galvanizing can be useful in corrosive environments such as chemical plants or coastal roof systems. There are different grades of galvanizing with varying associated costs. Good quality galvanizing is expensive, and it turns a versatile material into a very unforgiving material. Galvanized steel can not be painted, bent without cracking the finish, or welded without producing toxic fumes. Since a galvanized part can not be painted, any alterations can not be covered up. It is also extremely abrasive and must be handled carefully with gloves at all times. Galvanized steel is not resistant to oxidation when exposed to moisture. Typically galvanized steel will develop white rust which can be unsightly. Red-oxide primed steel can also develop surface rust when exposed to moist environments for extended time periods, but the color of the primer will hide any rust color.

Red-oxide primer is a water based paint and safe for the environment. Once applied to all the structural steel components of a steel building, surface rust is inhibited. The primer is very durable and can withstand the abuse of loading and unloading from a truck as well as all field handling while being erected. Primed steel will also hold up to the weather before the metal building is completed erected. With a primer finish, you have the option to paint the steel any color to match the interior of the building if needed.

Overall, red-oxide primed steel is the way to go for most every steel building application. Greater flexibly, lower cost and esthetically superior to galvanized steel, primed steel is chosen by most builders worldwide.

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Source by Ian Strompf