OK, in case you forget… the left one’s are pet friendly, the right one’s not so friendly.
Keeping your Pet Safe II
Month: May 2022
INTERNATIONAL NURSES DAY LESSON
A salute to those men and women who do so much to keep us healthy.
Nurses do one of the most important jobs in the world. There is a special day for us to celebrate them. International Nurses Day (IND) is on May 12 every year. Of course, this is the anniversary of Florence Nightingale’s birth. On IND, nurses take part in different events to highlight the importance of their work. They give ordinary people a chance to learn about the work they do. Many hospitals and clinics organize fund-raising events to highlight the work of nurses. IND was started in the USA in 1965. The International Council For Nurses decided it was important to have a special day to raise awareness of the important work of nurses. It is also a day for nurses to pat themselves on the back and be proud of doing such a valuable job.
PHRASE MATCH
Match the following phrases from the article.
1. one of the most important a. nurses
2 highlight the importance b. valuable job
3. give ordinary people c. jobs in the world
4. the important work of d. on the back
5. pat themselves e. of their work
6. be proud of doing such a f. a chance to learn
SPELLING
Spell the jumbled words (from the text) correctly.
1. one of the most tipantrmo jobs
2. the vreasnanryi of Florence Nightingale’s birth
3. ghhltighi the importance of their work
4. organize fund-raising nsvtee
5. pat evesmhetsl on the back
6. doing such a aueblval job
It’s easy to check your answers. Just return to the reading and check them out.
Thanks to ESL Holiday Lessons: English Lesson on International Nurses Day
15 Gorgeous Deck and Patio Ideas You Can DIY
Living Wall with Movable Planters
If you have a ground-level deck or patio and would like a bit of privacy, consider building a living wall. It can shield you from the neighbors, surround you with flowers and provide fresh herbs just steps away from your kitchen or grill. The planter boxes are easy to build, and a drip irrigation system provides automatic watering all summer long—no worries about missing a day of watering or losing all your plants when you go on vacation.
Island Deck
Built with composite decking and hidden fasteners, this maintenance-free backyard deck is designed to go together fast and to fit in anywhere in the yard, without footings or ledger boards.
Grillzebo
You can entertain and feed your guests without ever having to leave your shish kebabs unattended! If you’re looking for outdoor bar ideas or DIY gazebo plans, this “grillzebo” is perfect. It’s big enough to accommodate most standard grills but small enough that it might just fit on your existing patio. Customize your own grillzebo with lighting, grill accessory storage, wine glass racks, or built-in coolers.
Written by Matt Boley for The Family Handyman©
Please click the link below to see all 15 deck ideas.
Source Link: 15 Gorgeous Deck and Patio Ideas You Can DIY (msn.com)
7 Science-Backed Ways to Stay Healthy As You Age
These simple habits can have a major payoff.
Once upon a time, staying healthy meant eating some veggies and, well, pretty much nothing else. But with each passing decade, the risk for injuries and chronic illnesses increase, and wellness starts to take a little more work.
The good news? There are plenty of things you can do to keep feeling like your best and doing the things you enjoy. Here, seven that are worth integrating into your regular routine.
How to Fix Your Unstable Wi-Fi Connection
Unstable Wi-Fi is often caused by wireless congestion. Congestion problems are common in apartment complexes or densely-packed neighborhoods when too many people using Wi-Fi leads to connectivity problems.
Wireless congestion is caused by issues with two factors: frequency overlap and limited Wi-Fi channels.
1. Download and Install a Wi-Fi Analysis App
On Windows, many free apps can analyze the quality of wireless channels. One of the best options is available on the Microsoft Store: Wi-Fi Analyzer. For those without Windows, search your respective operating system’s app store for “Wi-Fi Analyzer,” and you’ll see dozens of options.
2. Detect Unstable Wi-Fi
Using Wi-Fi Analyzer is dead simple. Just install and run the app. After installation, you can launch it by going to Windows Search (Windows key + S) > Wi-Fi Analyzer.
The tool should detect your Wi-Fi signal strength, ranging from zero to -100 decibel milliwatts (dBm). If you have a 5GHz network, a toggle at the bottom of the app interface allows you to switch between detecting 2.4GHz and 5GHz.
To analyze your wireless router’s signal quality, take the following actions:
Click on Analyze in the top menu bar.
Wi-Fi Analyzer then displays a visualization of the Wi-Fi networks in your vicinity. If two networks broadcast on the same channel, you’ll notice overlap. Each channel has a number between one and 161 on the 5GHz frequency and one through 11 on the 2.4GHz frequency.
When two networks overlap:
The X axis represents the channels available on the 2.4GHz spectrum. As you can see, channels four to seven are unoccupied. Channels five and six have no competition whatsoever. Given the app’s analysis, I should change my router’s 2.4GHz channel to either five or six.
But how do you change your router’s channel?
How to Change Your Router’s Channel
Accessing your router’s settings requires a browser, like Chrome or Microsoft Edge. Accessing its settings, unfortunately, varies between different router models, but some general rules apply.
- Netgear routers: In your browser, navigate to https://routerlogin.net
- TP-Link routers: In your browser, navigate to https://tplinklogin.net
- Linksys routers: In your browser, navigate to 192.168.1.1.
You can complete an internet search to find the login URL for your specific router brand and model.
Most routers use “admin” as the login and “password” as the password. The login details may also be printed on the back of the router or in the instruction manual that came with it. If you cannot access your router, try searching the internet for your individual router’s access method.
For my own Telus router, changing the Wi-Fi channel is easy. First, I navigate to the router login address and enter my login and password. Changing the channel is usually located under Wireless Settings > Advanced Settings.
I then change the network channel to the option which offers a good connection, save the settings, and restart the router by power cycling it (turning it off and on again). Afterward, it stopped randomly disconnecting.
One thing to mention is that most modern routers include a dual-band feature that combines 2.4GHz and 5GHz frequencies onto a single network name or SSID. This feature is notoriously unreliable, and if you’re having network problems, I suggest disabling it as a precautionary step. On my Telus router, it’s referred to as SmartSteering. Other brands have completely different names.
How to Fix Unstable Wi-Fi? Decongest It!
If your Wi-Fi sucks, a Wi-Fi analysis app is the best way to find out your router’s ideal network settings. If you’re still getting unreliable internet after changing your router’s channel, consider troubleshooting your Wi-Fi problems. Sometimes ironing out the kinks on your home internet will fix those irritating reliability issues.
Written by Kannon Yamada for muo©
Source: How to Fix an Unstable Wi-Fi Connection: 6 Tips and Fixes (msn.com)
28 Apartment Garden Ideas That Will Activate Your Green Thumb
Building an apartment garden is no easy task. You’re either going to build indoors, which can be tricky due to lighting, or you’re going to do it in a backyard, on a patio, or on an even smaller balcony.
Luckily for us, there’s been plenty of people who’ve already figured out all of the clever methods of maximizing your garden space.
If you know you’ll rent your apartment for quite some time you can get really creative for some more permanent solutions that you can even leave for the next tenant.
1. Using Shelfs, Ladders, & Pots for a Wall Display
By using simple board shelves and a small ladder, you can create a very attractive cactus and succulent garden. Place it in front of a brick wall with clay pots and the entire scene will pop.
4. Apartment Balcony Railing Hangers for Herbs & Vegetables
Sometimes you just want to grow some herbs or vegetables without worrying about the decorative aspect. Containers that ride the railings of your balcony is a great way to use your space effectively.
This is only 26 ideas. Click the link to see all 28.
Source: 28 Apartment Garden Ideas That Will Activate Your Green Thumb | WR (worstroom.com)
The One Thing You Should Do Every Time You Visit A National Park
The one thing my family and I do every time we visit a national park: We pick up and complete a fact- and fun-filled Junior Ranger book, pledge to make the world a little better place, and pocket a patch and collection-worthy certificate to remember the visit.
Here’s what I’ve learned when discovering you are never too old to learn, Junior Ranger-style:
You Will Feel Like A Kid Again
It is fair to tackle the age question first. True, the National Park Service describes its Junior Ranger program as geared toward young people ages 5 to 13. It also says people of all ages can participate. Just a few years ago, a 103-year-old woman made news as the oldest-known Junior Ranger. Filling out Junior Ranger activity books you request at each visitor center can be a great individual or intergenerational-family activity using everyone’s strengths — from nature lovers and word-searchers to history buffs and sharp-eyed scavenger hunters. If you are determined to try something more adult-focused, there are also a few sites that offer special Senior Ranger booklets.
The National Park Service Office of Communications recommends you check in with a park ranger at the visitor center for each park you plan to visit to confirm how the program works there. Doing this ahead of time can help you know what to expect. For example, Yellowstone National Park charges $5 for its booklet.
Pro Tip: If possible, print booklets available online ahead of your visit. Here is an example from Channel Islands National Park. This allows you to avoid lines at often-crowded visitor centers, start learning about the park ahead of your visit, and focus more on the park when you arrive.
You Will Give Yourself A Conversation Starter
The Junior Ranger Program gives you an excuse to ask the burning questions you have about a park. NPS park rangers check over and sign your activity book and administer the Junior Ranger oath required to receive your badge. This helps you grab one-on-one time to talk with the experts about what you have seen. This is where we learned about the history (and necessity) of fire to sequoia trees at Sequoia National Park in California, and where we came to understand how glaciers changed the landscape at Kenai Fjords National Park in Alaska.
You Will Get Out Of Your Comfort Zone
My family has now visited 44 of the 63 national parks and dozens more national park sites, and Junior Ranger-inspired activities have led to some of our favorite (and free!) experiences. Often these take you to places in the park you would otherwise not see or open you to perspectives you may not otherwise hear.
Written by EMILY SCHMIDT for Travel Awaits©
Source: The One Thing You Should Do Every Time You Visit A National Park – TravelAwaits
Confirmed – Adverts are coming to Netflix
Netflix will roll out an advert-supported subscription tier by the end of 2022, it was revealed yesterday (May 9).
The New York Times reports that Netflix executives have told their employees that are hoping to introduce a lower-cost advert-supported tier by the end of the year, a far more accelerated timetable than previously briefed.
The news comes as the same time as it was confirmed that Netflix will begin to crackdown on password sharing at the end of this year.
The streaming giant is making the move as it looks to shore up revenue. It announced in late April that it had lost 200,000 subscribers since the start of 2022, and, as a result, saw its value fall by more than $50 billion.
This announcement has seen Netflix cancel a series of shows, park many of their in-development projects, including one from Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, and close Tudum, the streaming giant’s editorial presence.
An advert-supported, lower-price tier isn’t a revolutionary idea for a subscription service. Hulu, HBO Max, Paramount Plus and Peacock do it already and Disney Plus will be bringing in the option this year, the reason it’s a surprise is due to the fact that Netflix’s top brass were adamant, weeks ago, that it was just an idea…
There’s a bit of panic. That’s fair to say. Netflix’s change of heart has been rapid, and, coupled with its new crackdown on password sharing, it does suggest that the company is scrambling somewhat.
Providing a cheaper option for subscribers is never a bad thing and it’s vastly preferable to saving money by axing employees and canceling shows. Things just seem to be moving so fast for Netflix, every day seems to bring some new drama, and this announcement will not help matters.
A period of calm and maybe some show renewals would help. Let’s wait and see…
By Tom Goodwyn for Tech Radar©
Source: Confirmed – Adverts are coming to Netflix and much sooner than we thought (msn.com)
11 Leftovers That Can Make You Sick
The leftovers you’ll have to toss
The only thing better than sitting down to a home-made meal is enjoying it again the next day. But even the yummiest leftovers can pose a danger. Keep reading to see how 11 leftovers can make you sick.
Eggs
“Eggs almost always contain salmonella,” says Kantha Shelke, PhD, a food scientist and principal of Corvus Blue LLC, a food science and research firm. Some methods used to cook eggs require gentle heat for a short duration of time, which may not kill the bacteria. (Any method that results in a runny yolk.) Leaving them at room temperature for any length of time is a recipe for those bacteria to multiply to harmful levels. Plus, eggs always taste better fresh and don’t take too long to scramble, so they’re probably not a food you want to save for later.
Beets
Research, including a study published in 2012 in Sports Medicine, shows that the nitric oxide in beets can give your workout a boost and may help blood pressure. But those same compounds react with heat badly. When nitrate-rich foods are cooked, “not cooled properly, and further reheated, the nitrates can get converted to nitrites, and then to nitrosamines, some of which are known to be carcinogenic,” Shelke says. So regularly eating reheated beets or beet products may not be a good idea. The same may be true of turnips, another nitrate-rich root veggie.
Potatoes
Spuds seem so sturdy, but even though they’re cooked hotter and longer than eggs, they can pose a risk when left to cool and stored at room temperature too long. Doing so can potentially foster the growth of Clostridium botulinum, the bacteria that causes botulism, says Shelke. Large, foil-wrapped baked potatoes are particularly at risk, she says, because they offer bacteria the ideal low-oxygen environment to thrive in. That’s not all: Potatoes are also among the foods that you shouldn’t reheat in a microwave. Zapping them (sans foil of course) for 30 to 60 seconds doesn’t kill the stuff that wreaks havoc on your GI system. Cooking a raw potato in the microwave, however, requires only a few minutes more. Go that route, instead.
Spinach
Like beets, spinach is another nitrate-rich food that’s often served cooked. To avoid converting nitrates in these leafy greens into potentially carcinogenic nitrosamines, you may want to serve your spinach raw (the ultimate time-saver) or lightly sautéed. It’s also important to note that nitrites, another byproduct of heating nitrate-rich foods, are not safe for infants less than six months old, suggests research, including a study published in 2015 in the journal Pediatric Research. Spinach is often mixed with other foods in baby purees, so make sure you aren’t heating them.
Breast milk
This all-natural substance is one of the healthiest things you can feed your infant—but research, including a study published in 2015 in PLoS One, shows that warming up breast milk is a big no-no. “Babies contaminate the bottle when they suck and the milk can be a breeding ground for the bacteria in the saliva,” Shelke says. “Neither microwaving nor warming can kill these bacteria which can cause distress to more than just the digestive system of the infant.”
Rice
In the 1970s, a number of food poisoning outbreaks associated with leftover rice led to increased awareness that rice harbors a microorganism called Bacillus cereus that multiplies at room temperature. That doesn’t mean you have to chuck all your uneaten takeout—just make sure you’re stashing it in the fridge quickly. In general, food safety guidelines recommend keeping foods hot (over 140°F) or cold (40°F or under) if you’re not eating it within two hours.
Chicken
Like eggs, raw chicken tends to contain salmonella, and time plus low temps is a recipe for disaster as those bacteria multiply. The best way to avoid this: Make sure the internal temperature of your bird reaches 165 degrees. Microwaves don’t always heat evenly or as well as other cooking methods, so be sure to turn the meat. And don’t reheat it more than once—there’s always chicken salad!
Cold-pressed oils
Flaxseed oil, olive oil, canola oil, and other seed oils are rich in omega-3 fats and other unsaturated fats, which have a number of health benefits. Alas, they are also very sensitive to temperature. “Heating and reheating foods containing these oils can render them unstable and rancid and therefore, not safe,”
Oily foods
Another reason to avoid reheating oily foods, like French fries? Reheating in, say, the microwave may cause the oil to smoke past its safe level. When that happens it can produce hazardous fumes that are harmful to your health, suggests research, including a study published in 2012 in Food Chemistry. If you’re going to reheat it, do so in the oven at a low temperature—or not at all.
Buffet food
There’s a reason buffets don’t let you take food to go, and it’s not just because restaurants don’t want to lose money. Buffet trays aren’t kept hot enough to kill microbes, which can grow to unhealthy amounts while they sit out, unrefrigerated, says Shelke. This goes for those all-you-can-eat buffets at restaurants, as well as at-home party buffets.
Seafood
Fresh fish is mega healthy and most of us don’t eat enough. But nothing says “food poisoning risk” like bad seafood. And fish can go bad pretty easily. According to the Food and Drug Administration, bacteria that can cause illness grow quickly at warm temperatures (between 40°F and 140°F). Even the ambient temperature in the room can affect it. To play it safe, never leave seafood out of the fridge for more than two hours (or for more than an hour when temperatures are above 90°F)
Reader’s Digest article by Jill Waldbieser
Source: 11 Leftovers That Can Make You Sick | The Healthy
Keeping open body language makes you seem more trustworthy.
Job hunting and interviewing, dating, or just meeting people can leave a wrong impression by doing one thing that implies mistrust or insecurity.
Doing This with Your Hands Makes People Not Trust You, Experts Say
Especially with face masks covering our mouths these days, body language is a huge factor in how we come across. Whether you’re sitting straight up, slouched over, or fidgeting with your pen, people are quick to make judgements based on the little things you do. In fact, experts say that making one common gesture with your hands makes people less likely to trust you. Read on to find out what it is, and for more on why people may be doubting you.
Putting your hands in your pockets makes people not trust you.
If you want to come off as inviting and trustworthy, keep your hands where people can see them, says Susan Trombetti, a relationship expert and CEO of Exclusive Matchmaking. “When people keep their hands in their pockets, it appears they are hiding something. And someone is more likely to be lying because they are hiding their hands,” she explains. Concealing your hands comes across as more controlled, which can be interpreted as “deceitful and untrustworthy,” she notes. “People generally consider individuals with their hands in their pockets to be insecure,” explains Girish Shukla, a mental health and psychology expert.
Keeping open body language makes you seem more trustworthy.
According to Trombetti, someone who is telling the truth—or at least, seems to be—is more likely to keep their hands open and palms up. When your hands are visible, “the physical openness of your body language invites trust,” says Lauren Levy, a sales expert who teaches people in the industry how to appear trustworthy.
“Keeping open hands while talking can give others the idea that you can be trusted and that you know what you are talking about,” Shukla says. “Whenever you expose your palms it means that you are not hiding anything.”
Article and photos provided by Best Life.
Source: Doing This With Your Hands Makes People Not Trust You, Experts Say (msn.com)