October is Adopt a Dog Month | Pets Best Blog

By: Dr. Fiona Caldwell
Idaho Veterinary Hospital
For Pets Best Insurance

October is adopt a dog month! Dogs have been proven to help keep us happier and healthier by reducing stress, providing companionship and giving unconditional love. Honoring this bond with a month devoted to adoption also helps keep homeless dogs out of shelters and can help raise awareness about pet over-population. Adopt a dog month is sponsored by the American Humane Association and encourages people to consider shelters and rescue organizations when choosing their next four-legged family member. But before you adopt a furry canine friend, there are a few things you will need to consider? like what will be the best pet insurance, how you will train your new pet, and if the new dog will be a good fit for your family dynamic.

Shelter animals occasionally get a bad rap as abused, disobedient, unwanted and incapable of being trained. This is untrue! It is true, however, that some of the dogs brought into shelters have trust issues and often are under socialized. These dogs require much more time and devotion to training than you might be able to provide. It is important to recognize how much time and emotional energy you have to offer. Taking on a ?project,? while it may make you feel good to be helping a dog in need, will fail if you don?t truly have the resources to provide for the dog. There are plenty of dogs that don?t have behavioral issues and are given up for other reasons.

Before choosing a dog, take a look at your lifestyle. Do you live in an apartment? Do you work 10 hours a day and travel a lot? Do you have children? These are all very important factors to consider prior to picking out a dog. It is unreasonable to expect a high energy breed, like a border collie to sit quietly alone at home for hours at a time. On the other hand, an older poodle might be perfectly content to watch cars go by out the window while you are at work. Consider getting an older dog if you don?t have the time to train a puppy. It is untrue that older dogs are incapable of learning new ?tricks,? like basic obedience.

Be sure that you are financially prepared to care for a dog. Consider pet health insurance, as this can be invaluable in times of medical need. Veterinary care is expensive, and also important. Remember the cost of food, toys, bedding, leashes, kenneling when you are on vacation? This adds up. It is estimated that as a country Amercians spend $41 billion a year on their pets! According to the Animal Pet Products Association 2011-2012 survey, the average dog costs over $1,500 a year. Because healthcare can be one of the most costly parts of dog ownership, you will want to look into dog insurance early on.

After you have examined all these fundamental aspects and made the decision to open your home to a dog, consider rescue organizations and humane societies. Even if you have a specific breed in mind, there are many rescue organizations that cater to one breed. Some shelter will allow you to be notified if a dog meeting your breed standards turns up for adoption. By considering organizations whose mission it is to help animals in need, you can become part of the solution to pet overpopulation. Every year, about 8 million unwanted and stray animals are taken in by shelters across the country. Tragically, about 3.7 million, almost half, are euthanized because good homes cannot be found for them.

Let?s take time this October to honor these wonderful pets and the joy and smiles they can bring! And for more information about pet health insurance and other pet tips, visit Pets Best Insurance.

Tags: adopting a dog, best pet insurance, dog insurance, Pet Health Insurance, pet insurance

This entry was posted on Saturday, October 1st, 2011 at 8:00 am and is filed under Dog Insurance.

Source: http://www.petsbest.com/blog/october-is-adopt-a-dog-month/

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How To Find Home Based Business Income Opportunities

By vivolre | Published October 2, 2011

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If you are dedicated, driven and highly inspired it is possible to receive Over a well-rounded time revenue from house. For much more concepts, guidelines and sources for home based company income options, visit the hyperlinks below!

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Source: http://www.mco-design.com/2011/10/02/how-to-find-home-based-business-income-opportunities/

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Traditional Vs Self-Publishing | Writing and Speaking

September 30th, 2011 by

After you have poured your blood, sweat, tears and a dash of red wine into your manuscript, you now have to ask yourself the big girl question, ?Should I self-publish or shop for a publisher?? (Cue dramatic music and lightning sound effects) With all the new technology and random news stories about how some new author made millions of dollars selling their self-published ebook for a penny, it all may have you believing that self-publishing trumps the traditional publishing option 100% of the time. And that is simply not true.

Source:Traditional Vs Self-Publishing

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Tags:publishing

Source: http://writing-and-speaking.com/traditional-vs-self-publishing.html

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Mixed job picture when Romney was Mass. governor (AP)

BOSTON ? Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney frequently boasts how he and his team "were able to turn around the job losses" in Massachusetts during his single term as governor.

A closer look at his record shows that while the state's jobless numbers did improve during Romney's four years on Beacon Hill, gains and losses varied wildly depending on the sector of the economy and the kind of job being sought.

While business leaders have praised Romney for taking steps such as streamlining the state's permitting process, many also fault him for increasing business costs by pushing to close more than $300 million in what Romney described as corporate "loopholes." They say that move may have depressed job growth.

How much credit Romney should get for the overall uptick in jobs still is debated in Boston, five years after his term ended.

When Romney was sworn in as governor in January 2003, Massachusetts was reeling from the end of the dot.com bubble. With an economy more pegged to technology than most states, Massachusetts took longer to recover.

At the time, the state's unemployment rate was at 5.6 percent, compared with a low of 2.8 percent just two years earlier.

The jobless rate would keep rising through Romney's first year in office, topping out at 6 percent in August of his first year.

By December 2006, Romney's last full month in office, it had fallen to 4.7 percent.

A drop of less than 1 percent, meaning the addition of about 40,000 jobs, may seem like a modest achievement. Still, Romney has tried to make the most of it.

"That's a record that I think the president would like to see," Romney said at a recent debate. "As a matter of fact we created more jobs in Massachusetts than this president has created in this entire country."

Where those Massachusetts jobs were being created is a story in itself.

The steepest drop during Romney's tenure came in manufacturing. The number of manufacturing jobs fell by 11.4 percent, extending a historic slide in a state whose mill towns once provided the fuel for the economic engine.

Other areas that saw declines during Romney's term were jobs in publishing, movies, broadcasting and data processing, which fell by 7.1 percent, and in warehousing and utilities, which fell by 2.7 percent.

The strongest job growth was at the higher end of the wage scale. Professional and business services grew by 7.1 percent, education and health services by 6.8 percent, and the leisure and hospitality area by 4.7 percent.

Part of that growth can be attributed to Massachusetts' role as a national leader in health care, a role strengthened by the state's landmark health insurance law signed by Romney in 2006.

It served as a blueprint for the federal health overhaul signed by President Barack Obama four years later.

The health care sector is one of the largest in Massachusetts, employing more workers than manufacturing, financial services, retail trade or construction.

Under Romney, the state added about 32,000 health care and social assistance jobs, an increase of 7.6 percent, for a total of about 456,700 jobs in the sector by the time he left office.

One area that saw little overall change was the number of public employees.

A drop in the number of federal workers in Massachusetts during Romney's years in office was more than made up for with a 2.7 percent increase in workers on the state payroll, or more than 3,000 jobs, and a smaller increase in the number of local government employees.

Overall, there were about 430,600 government workers in Massachusetts when Romney's term ended.

Michael Widmer, president of the business-backed Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, described Romney's jobs record as "mixed," saying Romney failed to take the long view in his planning.

"The administration never really put together an overall economic development strategy to improve the state's economic competitiveness," he said. "They did bits and pieces but they never really had an overall game plan."

While he credited individual members of the administration for working to persuade companies in Massachusetts to stay and expand, Widmer said Romney's presidential ambitions sometimes undermined that effort. Romney unsuccessful sought the GOP's White House nomination in 2008.

"By the last year and a half of his term, he was out around the country bashing Massachusetts, which wasn't very helpful," Widmer said, pointing out that the state ranked 47th in job growth during Romney's tenure.

Richard Lord, president of Associated Industries of Massachusetts, credited Romney with helping ease the state's byzantine permitting process by creating "one-stop shopping" for businesses hoping to grow.

"I think overall generally I would give him a pretty good grade," Lord said. "He really cared about the business climate here and making sure it was a good place for businesses to locate."

Jim Stergios, executive director of the Pioneer Institute, a conservative-leaning Boston-based think tank, worked in the Romney administration but gives the ex-governor a mixed grade.

Stergios is most critical of Romney's focus on closing corporate "loopholes," which the overwhelmingly Democratic Legislature welcomed.

"While each loophole may have been justified in the mind of someone in the budget office, if you take that cumulatively, it sends a message to the business community that we're coming to you to solve some of our budget issues," he said.

The recovery in Massachusetts during Romney's tenure was slower than the nation as a whole.

When Romney was sworn in, the national unemployment rate was 5.7 percent, just slightly higher than Massachusetts' jobless number that month. Four years later the national unemployment rate had fallen to 4.5 percent, slightly lower than Massachusetts.

Romney's presidential campaign argues that when the national and state unemployment rates during that four-year window are averaged out, Massachusetts fared slightly better than the nation as a whole.

They also note that per capita personal income grew in Massachusetts during the four years Romney was in office, from $40,264 in 2003 to $47,559 in 2006.

Not surprisingly, the chairman of the Massachusetts Democratic Party, John Walsh, takes a dimmer view of Romney's jobs record. He said that as least a part of the reason the unemployment rate dropped was that the state was losing population.

"Mitt had a way of solving the economic situation in Massachusetts," Walsh said. "He evacuated Massachusetts."

Romney's own job history has been a mix of the public and private sector.

From 1984 to 1999, he was CEO of Bain Capital, a venture capital firm. From 1999 to 2002 he served as chairman of the Salt Lake Organizing Committee for the Winter Olympic Games before being elected Massachusetts governor that same year.

Since leaving office in January 2007, Romney has spent virtually all his time running or planning to run for president.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/gop/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111001/ap_on_el_ge/us_romney_s_jobs_record

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Restaurant Performance Index Fell to ... - Hospitality-Industry.com

Restaurant Performance Index Fell to Lowest Level in 13 Months Amid

Restaurant Performance Index Fell to Lowest Level in 13 Months Amid Growing Operator Uncertainty

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Less than one out of five restaurant operators expect economic conditions to improve in the next six months

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WASHINGTON, Sept. 30, 2011 - Dampened by softer sales and traffic levels and continued uncertainty among restaurant operators, the National Restaurant Association?sRestaurant Performance Index (RPI) declined for the second consecutive month in August.? The RPI - a monthly composite index that tracks the health of and outlook for the U.S. restaurant industry - stood at 99.4 in August, down 0.3 percent from July.? In addition, August marked the second consecutive month that the RPI stood below 100, the level above which signifies expansion in the index of key industry indicators.

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?The August decline in the Restaurant Performance Index resulted from softening of both current situation and expectations indicators, as well as Hurricane Irene,? said Hudson Riehle, senior vice president of the Research and Knowledge Group for the Association.? ?Although restaurant operators reported net positive same-store sales results in August, their six-month outlook for both sales growth and the economy continued to deteriorate.?

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?It is important to note that the industry?s August performance is a substantial improvement over the 2008-2009 period, but overall, the near-term health of the restaurant industry will depend heavily on the economy?s ability to create jobs and bolster consumer confidence,? Riehle added.

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The RPI is constructed so that the health of the restaurant industry is measured in relation to a steady-state level of 100.? Index values above 100 indicate that key industry indicators are in a period of expansion, and index values below 100 represent a period of contraction for key industry indicators.? The RPI consists of two components, the Current Situation Index and the Expectations Index.

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The Current Situation Index, which measures current trends in four industry indicators (same-store sales, traffic, labor and capital expenditures), stood at 99.3 in August - down 0.5 percent from July and the second consecutive monthly decline.?

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Although restaurant operators reported net positive same-store sales in August, the overall results were softer than recent months.? Forty-five percent of restaurant operators reported a same-store sales gain between August 2010 and August 2011, while 37 percent of operators reported lower same-store sales.? In July, 48 percent of operators reported higher same-store sales, while 34 percent reported a sales decline.?

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Meanwhile, restaurant operators reported a net decline in customer traffic for the first time in three months.? Thirty-four percent of restaurant operators reported an increase in customer traffic between August 2010 and August 2011, down from 40 percent of operators who reported higher traffic in July.? In comparison, 42 percent of operators reported a traffic decline in August, up from 37 percent who reported lower traffic in July.

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Overall, restaurant operators reported relatively steady levels of capital spending.? Forty-four percent of operators said they made a capital expenditure for equipment, expansion or remodeling during the last three months, roughly on par with 43 percent who reported similarly last month.

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The Expectations Index, which measures restaurant operators? six-month outlook for four industry indicators (same-store sales, employees, capital expenditures and business conditions), stood at 99.5 in August - down 0.1 percent from July and the lowest level in nearly two years.? In addition, August represented the second consecutive month that the Expectations Index stood below 100, which illustrates restaurant operators? uncertainty about business conditions in the months ahead.? ?

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Restaurant operators? outlook for sales growth in the coming months continues to deteriorate.? Thirty-three percent of restaurant operators expect to have higher sales in six months (compared to the same period in the previous year), down from 39 percent last month and the lowest level in 19 months.? In comparison, 23 percent of restaurant operators expect their sales volume in six months to be lower than it was during the same period in the previous year, matching the proportion who reported similarly last month.

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Meanwhile, restaurant operators remain generally pessimistic about the direction of the overall economy in the months ahead.? Only 18 percent of restaurant operators said they expect economic conditions to improve in six months, compared to 17 percent who reported similarly last month.? Meanwhile, 31 percent of operators said they expect economic conditions to worsen in the next six months, matching the proportion who reported similarly last month.?

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Restaurant operators are slightly more optimistic about capital spending in the months ahead.? Forty-four percent of restaurant operators plan to make a capital expenditure for equipment, expansion or remodeling in the next six months, up slightly from 42 percent who reported similarly last month.?

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The RPI is based on the responses to the National Restaurant Association?s Restaurant Industry Tracking Survey, which is fielded monthly among restaurant operators nationwide on a variety of indicators including sales, traffic, labor, and capital expenditures. The full report and a video summary are available online at http://www.restaurant.org/pressroom.

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The RPI is released on the last business day of each month, and more detailed data and analysis can be found on Restaurant TrendMapper (http://www.restaurant.org/trendmapper), the Association?s subscription-based service that provides detailed analysis of restaurant industry trends.

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Founded in 1919, the National Restaurant Association is the leading business association for the restaurant industry, which comprises 960,000 restaurant and foodservice outlets and a workforce of nearly 13 million employees. We represent the industry in Washington, D.C., and advocate on its behalf. We operate the industry?s largest trade show (NRA Show May 5-8, 2012, in Chicago); leading food safety training and certification program (ServSafe); unique career-building high school program (the NRAEF?s ProStart, including the National ProStart Invitational April 27-29, 2012, in Baltimore, Md.) and college-level management program (ManageFirst); as well as the Kids LiveWell program promoting healthful kids? menu options. For more information, visit http://www.restaurant.org and find us on Twitter @WeRRestaurants, Facebook and YouTube.

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SOURCE National Restaurant Association

National Restaurant Association

CONTACT: Brian Hoyt, +1-202-973-3964, .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address), or Annika Stensson, +1-202-973-3677, .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

Web Site: http://www.restaurant.org

Number of visits: 114

Posted on Sep 30, 2011 - 04:04 PM ? Print

Source: http://www.hospitality-industry.com/index.php/news/comments/restaurant_performance_index_fell_to_lowest_level_in_13_months_amid/

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An Overview of Professional Sports Pitch Construction

A well constructed sports pitch and a quality surface well enhance the standard of the game being played and the players? performance. Non league through to professional clubs and their ground staff aim to provide the best sporting experience within their budgetary constraints.

Professional advice can ensure you get the best pitch within your budget and will help avoid future performance issues, which can include poor surface drainage, sunken areas, excess compaction, and poor root growth.

A sports ground contractor can offer different construction and maintenance options. These should cater to your clubs requirements while delivering you a project to the highest standards and with minimal disruption to the club.

When choosing your sports turf contractor look for accreditations or associations they have from professional bodies which relate to pitch specifications, standards of work and materials used. These may be from the IOG or LDCA as examples.

Sporting bodies also offer advice and specifications for pitch construction for each sport. These can be found on the SAPCA website.

The site works for the following sports would typically involve the following:

Football & Rugby Pitch Construction

• Site set up.
• Strip the existing surface using a GKB Combinator or Koro Field Top Maker.
• Football or Rugby pitch drainage solution to include main drain and laterals, backfilled with drainage gravel and sand.
• Spread and laser grade sports sand / rootzone.
• Final ground preparation using a Blec Rotor Rake.
• Apply a pre turf or seed fertiliser.
• Surface installation with football turf or sports seed.

Bowling Green Construction

• Site set up.
• Excavation of the base.
• A bowling green drainage solution using a main and laterals backfilled with washed drainage gravel.
• Laser grade a gravel over the entire crown green bowls surface.
• Install concrete channels around the edge of the playing surface.
• Laser grade rootzone across the surface.
• Apply a pre turf or seed fertiliser.
• Surface installation with Bowling Green turf.

Cricket Wicket Construction

• Site set up.
• Strip the existing surface using a GKB Combinator.
• Install cricket wicket primary drainage solution using a main drain and laterals back filled with washed drainage gravel and drainage sand.
• Spread a gravel carpet to create a drainage layer.
• Spread and laser grade topsoil.
• Spread and laser grade heavy loam topsoil.
• Spread and laser grade topsoil.
• Final ground preparation by hand raking.
• Apply a ryegrass Cricket sports seed.

Fineturf, one of the countries leading sports ground contractors specialise in sports pitch construction projects. Please visit or contact us at our website Fineturf for more information.

Source: http://ecostestimation.com/an-overview-of-professional-sports-pitch-construction/

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Agent Profile: Doreen ... - RealtyBizNews: Real Estate News and More

Doreen E. Wanco, ABR, CRS, SRES, E-Pro Certified, CREO Specialist Georgia

President: W.O.W., Inc. 770-606-2229
Website: www.WOWANCO.COM

• Top 1% of All Realtors Nationwide
• Ranked 8th Statewide

Doreen Wanco is one of the true top producers among Realtors ?. She is ranked in the top 1% of all Realtors? in the United States, thanks to a whopping $68 MILLION Dollars in total sales volume! That?s no small feat in the North West Georgia market, where the local home prices are usually well below the national average.

From the 1990?s to 2008, Doreen averaged about 6 million dollars in total sales volume each year.
Even today, in the midst of the worst housing market since the great depression, Doreen and her ?WOW-Wanco? team are top ranked producers, with over two million dollars in yearly sales volume, good enough for a number 8 ranking for total sales for Exit Realty in the state of Georgia.

We recently sat down with Doreen to discuss her business secrets. Here is a little bit of that interview:

RealtyBizNews.com: You are ranked in top 1% Nationwide: How did you reach that ranking? What is your secret?

Doreen: ?Consistency ? my motto is the golden rule, treat people with honesty and integrity. No matter what, you must think of your clients first. Contrary to popular myth, being a great real estate agent is not a numbers game, it?s a people business. I specialize in building relationships. Many of my clients did business with me 10, 15, or even 20 years ago. Today these clients are sending their kids to me, as well as their friends. ?

?They trust me so they want to do business with me. I cultivate relationships for the long term. The dollars come as a result of this. It?s a long term plan. People know whether you?re there to make a dollar or you?re truly looking after their best interests.?

?I also place a great emphasis on education and the need to stay current. I usually get around 300 hours of CE every four years, not just the required 24 hours. Things are changing fast and it?s very important to know what is going on in this business. Knowledge is power and real estate agency is a very detailed business. You?ve gotta know what you?re talking about.?

RealtyBizNews.com: How has technology impacted your business? What technology, if any, has been most important to you?

Doreen: ?The I-Phone! ? I never dreamed of how important things like texting could be. With the new mobile technology, I can sit in my car and access property info right on the spot. And the internet made it possible to do business anywhere. I no longer have to return to the office to check property data. I recently worked with a client who is located in California, and we did everything online.?

RealtyBizNews.com: Have you made any changes in your business since the housing crisis started?

Doreen: ?Yes, I?ve gotten my REO certification and gone through an extensive program to become a Certified Georgia Real Estate Instructor. I?m also much more involved with property management. I?m always adjusting to where the market is going, through education and taking the market as it comes.
I decided to sharpen my skills regarding short sales and foreclosures after the housing crisis started.
For continued success as a Realtor? You have to be willing to be adaptable and diversified.?

2010 Awards And Achievements:

• Bartow Area Phoenix Life Award
• Silver ? Bartow Area Board of Realtors
• Bartow Area Board of Realtors Past Alternate State Director
• Georgia Association of Realtors (GAR) ? Legal Action Committee
• Licensed Certified Instructor for the State of Georgia
• Over $68,000,000 in Total Career Sales Volume
• GAR Education Facilitator
• CREO Certified Specialist
• HUD Specialist
• Broker: Exit Realty Donald Ray & Associates

You may contact Doreen and view her properties on her website at: http://www.wowanco.com

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Source: http://realtybiznews.com/agent-profile-doreen-wanco/9876069/

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