Clangy

Most pet owners will agree that the organic dog food is the best food choice for their dog but many are unable to justify the higher cost. A can or bag of premium organic dog food can cost substancially more than it’s regularcan or bag counterpart. Here are some things that you should keep in mind when making your decision.

You get what you pay for. A premium organic brand of dog food will include human grade meat. This means your pet is getting the best meat, the regular brand will include chicken beaks, intestines liver and whatever is scraped up at the bottom of the a slaughter house and ground up and labeled by-product.

Ease of worry. It seems that every day another major pet food company is recalling their food as the wrong additive or too much additive is found in their food and pets are sick. Many times it is too late to save your pet when they are exposed.

Pets feel better, look healthier. Ask anyone who puts their animal on an organic diet and they will tell you their skin looks better, their coat shinier and have increased energy.   Many pet owners will tell you that their pet is healthier. Better health means less trips to the vet which save money in the long run

Any or all of these reasons should give a pet owner plenty of reasons to switch to organic. If another is needed, one just has to think of the ecological benefits. Organic foods have a smaller carbon footprint, they do not harm the planet.

So no matter what reason, superior ingredients, elimination of poisonous chemicals, better health or simply to be more green, pet owners should look closely into organic dog food for their dog.

sstrait :: Jul.01.2009 :: Business, Internet, Shopping :: No Comments »

We are asked all the time the best way to clean a custom saddle and thought our first blog would be a great way to do so. Please read all instructions before beginning.

1. To maintain the light color as long as possible, the saddle should be kept covered and out of the light when not in use. Any light, especially sunlight will darken your new saddle gradually.

2. The saddle should not be left in your trailer for extended periods of time. The heat inside the trailer can be damaging to the leather and will cause the silver to tarnish rapidly.

3. If compressed air is available, your dusty saddle should be blown off to remove dust and dirt. A vacuum cleaner with the brush attachment also works well for this task. This should be done after each dusty horse show.

4. Once the saddle is dirty enough to need a thorough clearing it muse be washed or wiped down with a damp cloth. Each part must be cleaned separately; fenders, seat jockey, skirts, etc

5. If washing is necessary, use a mild soap solution such as Harris Blue Foam finish. Do not use saddle soaps since it will darken the leather. Wash each piece with a soft cloth using the blue Foam Finish. A soft brush can also be used if the carving is very dirt. After cleaning each part separately, it must be dried with a towel before washing another part of the saddle. Do not allow the clear to dry on the parts. Also do not rinse the saddle or wash the suede seat.

6. To condition your saddle after cleaning we recommend “Lexol NF”. Please remember that the conditioning process is not necessary to maintain the light color and may alter the color somewhat. Leather conditioning is the option of each individual.

7. If your saddles has silver trim it must be cleaned before you add the protective finish to the leather. Clean the silver with a liquid silver cleaner. We recommend “Goddard Silver Dip”. Using a toothbrush, wash each piece of silver and wipe dry or rinse with cold water and then dry. For tougher silver cleaning jobs a wadding such as “Never Dull” or a paste like “Wenol” is best. These work well in removing lacquer coating that is on some silver trim. Should you use a paste or wadding cleaner, avoid getting the black residue on the leather bordering the silver.

Should this happen, wash off with soapy water. The silver dip also works great to rinse the silver after using wadding or paste cleaners. It is okay to get the silver dip on the leather. Once the silver is clean, shine with a “Goddards Silver Cloth” which will restore the luster and look of a new piece.

8. A protective finish on the leather is the next step. We recommend “Harris Acrylic Finish”. This will add a shine and give your saddle a new look. This should be applied only after the saddle has dried completely. To apply the finish, pour a small amount in a cup or bowl. A soft terry cloth is best to apply the finish to the leather parts. Soak the cloth heavily on one end and apply to all areas that need to shine. Use the dry end of the cloth to soak off heavy applications or runs. Apply evenly to all visible parts of the saddle, except the suede seat. Take care to not get the finish on the suede seat. The finish will dry to a shine in approximately 30 minutes.

9. The last step in cleaning your saddle is to brush the suede seat. A brass bristle brush for suede is best for this.

sstrait :: Jun.30.2009 :: Business, General, Recreation :: No Comments »

When transitioning your cat to new foods you will have the tale of two kitties. Those of you who are lucky – or have cats that are pigs - will have no issues. You will set down the new food and your pet will happily chow down and look at you with adoring thankfulness.

Now for the remaining 99.99% of us in the world, please read on.

When my cat was diagnosed with feline diabetes my world changed. For years the only feeding I did was to monitor the auto dry feeder and dump in some pesticide-filled, animal by-product filler food bag of kitty crack into it when it got low.   I realized then that without change to a healthy cat food, my cat would die.

So we had to switch over and I worked with my vet to come up with a solution. The first day I very positively put the new organic cat food down and went for a walk with my dog for thirty minutes. When I came back my dog was happy but I received the evil eye by my feline kids. I picked up the food and went on with the day. DO NOT LEAVE THE FOOD DOWN MORE THAN THIRTY MINUTES – NO GRAZING ALLOWED!

I did the same thing that night – put the food down but this time sprinkled Parmesan cheese before I left the house. When I came back they had eaten off the cheese but then left the rest. As hard as it was I went to bed and reminded myself it was for their own good.

The next day I repeated – both feeding times they nibbled but that was it. These two days are crucial because now your cats are hungry and probably more agreeable.

On Day three I took ¾ of their regular food and ¼ of their new food and mixed it together and sprinkled Parmesan cheese on top. And then took the dog out and when I came back I pulled up the bowls until dinner. I repeated for dinner.

Day Four I mixed their food half and half with the Parmesan cheese and Day Five it was ¼ old food and ¾ new food. At this point it depends on your cat – some are willing to give it up and accept the new food. If your cat is one of those then just start feeding the new food – with just a bit of Parmesan cheese if needed.

For the tougher cases I recommend gradually moving down from ¼ old food to none. Don’t forget the Parmesan cheese on top it really helps.

Soon you will be down to just the new healthy cat food with the cheese – the big test is if they will eat the food without the cheese. Usually they will be fine without it – if not then continue as it does not hurt your cat and a little bit goes a long way.

The most important pieces are to only leave food down 30 minutes – this is a FOREVER thing and leave the house during feeding time during transition – your nerves WILL affect your cat. If you put food down and are negative they will be too.
It will work and in the long run your cat will that you for a healthy diet.

sstrait :: Jun.30.2009 :: Business, Shopping :: No Comments »

There is no denying that organic food is becoming more and more mainstream. Many grocery stores have incorporated organic choices for many staples and people are choosing them for their health benefits as well as their eco-friendly tendencies.

Because the American dog is part of our family, it is no surprise that concerned pet owners are starting to choose organic dog foods over traditional pet foods. This correlates to the human transition to organic, but also has increased dramatically after the world wide pet food scare where many of our pets became sick or died due to poisonous additives.

There became an awareness of all USDA approved items that are allowed in pet food. Items such as animal heads, spleens, lungs and blood – the thought of feeding these to your pets can be frightening. Even worse is the list of pesticides and hormones that are transferred to our pets from this food.

Is it no surprise that as we have added animal by-products, fillers, chemicals and preservatives that our pets are now suffering from diabetes, tumors and cancer at an alarming rate? There can be no denying that our pets are suffering from diseases that years ago were only seen rarely.

The best defense to these issues is an organic diet. Using main ingredients such as human grade meat, fresh vegetables and grains will ensure your pet is receiving the proper nutrition they need while not being exposed to chemicals, additives or fillers.

With more and more issues cropping up for regular dog food, new recalls seem to happen so frequently that they are no longer headline news. This is just one more reason why it is important to make wise choices for our dogs. The safest choice for your dog’s health is organic dog food.

sstrait :: Jun.28.2009 :: Business :: No Comments »

Visit Tel3Advantage and sign-up for their prepaid long-distance phone service during the Father’s Day promo and get double the normal sign-up bonus. This promotion lasts from June 16 through June 22, 2009. During the promotion period a new customer will get up to 946 free minutes just for signing up for the Tel3Advantage Flex Plan. There is no cost to sign-up, all a new customer needs to do is open an account and make an initial deposit ($10 - $100) and bonus funds will be automatically added to their account. The higher the initial deposit, the more bonus funds added as shown below.

Deposit $10 and get $2 in Bonus Funds

Deposit $25 and get $10 in Bonus Funds

Deposit $50 and get $14 in Bonus Funds

Deposit $100 and get $18 in Bonus Funds

Not a bad deal considering Tel3Advantage offers the most popular prepaid calling plan in North America. The flex plan has over 100,000 active customers who routinely use the service to make cheap international calls to any location in the world. The service can be used with any existing service and any kind of phone (cell, home, business, etc.) without changing anything. It is convenient to use and very easy to make calls. The service can be used from the USA and Canada. Tel3Advantage is an honest calling plan with no hidden fees or taxes. This can be verified through an on line call history in every customers personal on-line account that records the length and cost for each call. Now is a great time to try Tel3Advantage and save money on calls to Dad.

rdgraham535 :: Jun.16.2009 :: General, Shopping, Travel :: No Comments »

The summer travel season is fast approaching and many Americans will be heading to Europe for vacation despite the weak economy. If fact, there are some good deals to be had on air travel, hotels and rental cars because of the weak economy in most locations around the world. We were recently in Moscow and paid ½ the rate we paid 6 months ago for the same hotel room.

Most people will want to call home a few times during a trip abroad so it is a good idea to carry a phone card. We suggest purchasing a phone card before you leave home because you have more time to shop (on-line) and choose the right phone card for your trip. You will likely find a better quality card at a better price than if you wait and purchase one abroad at a hotel, airport or other location frequented by tourists. Most on-line international phone card merchants provide customers with an on-line account. This is a handy feature for travelers because they can access their account via the internet from any location in the world to find a local access number, add funds or make other changes to their account. Many on-line phone cards also include other handy features like Speed Dial, PIN free dialing and call history that make international calling much easier.

We have a couple of phone card recommendations for people who want to make cheap calls to the USA or other locations from Europe. The first phone card we would recommend is a new card called Solaris. It has high user ratings for quality and has a wide range of local and toll free access numbers in every European country. It can be used to make cheap international calls from over 100 countries so it has very wide coverage and is ideal for people who plan to visit several countries during a trip. It also has no maintenance or connection fee and some of the lowest rates on international calls. Another high quality phone card is Continental. It can be used to make cheap calls from over 60 countries. The continental card comes with several features like speed dial, call history and PIN free dialing which makes it very convenient to use. Smart Global Call Phone Cards International sells these and other high quality calling cards.

People who want to make cheap calls to Europe have a wider range of options. Rates are generally cheaper on international calls from the USA or Canada to Europe than they are from Europe to the USA or Canada. Therefore, it is cheaper to make calls that originate in North America if possible. This is not always possible so a high quality phone card is the next best option.

rdgraham535 :: Jun.15.2009 :: General, Shopping, Travel :: No Comments »

Congratulations ” you have a new home! Now comes the hard part, getting all your moving boxes ready and transfering all your belongings to your new space to make it truly yours. While you may have already anticipated this part of the process, you dont need to stress out over an impending relocation. Here are some tips to help make moving easier.

Create a schedule.

If you know that you will be moving out of your current living quarters in a certain time frame, you can start getting ready now by creating a reasonable timeline to getting all of your shipping boxes ready. For example, you may have given your notice that you are vacating your current flat so you know you have lets say thirty days. You can start your schedule out by writing a task to accomplish each day up until you get to the last couple of days when the moving truck arrives. Doing this now, rather than later, will save you a lot of worry.

Downsize your stuff.

Over time, most people accumulate things that they no longer need or use. Its just human nature to collect things and then not know where to put them once their usefulness ends. Now is the time to start going through your belongings and eliminating them so that you have less to move when the time comes. Choose a section of each room, grab two boxes and start tossing items into each one- designated as the keep box and the dispose box.

Have a yard sale or auction.

Once you have eliminated much of the clutter in your space, you can now start earning a few more dollars to help you pay for the cost of your move. Take all the dispose boxes and sort them by the type of items you have. For example, put in one box clothes, another shoes, another for collectibles, and the last one household items like dishes, dcor, etc. Then take photos of the items you have ” either in groups or small sets. List them online at a free or paid auction site and start selling for at least a week. Items that dont sell will go into a yard sale. Pick a weekend to have your sale, generally a week or two before your move. Set up a nice display, putting the best items out front and give people some good deals. Whatever you dont sell by the end of the weekend, donate or give away.

Pack things carefully in many smaller boxes.

Despite what you may think, it is not advisable to cram a lot of stuff into huge boxes. What ends up happening is that the boxes become too heavy to handle and causes back strain. Find many smaller boxes, about the size of paper ream boxes, and carefully pack items wrapped in newspaper or use your bath and kitchen towels to cushion fragile things. When moving day comes, your back and feet will thank you.

Get friends to help.

It is never a good thing to try to move alone, so invite some friends over, put on some music and enjoy each others company while you transfer your items to your new place. Have a contest to see who can move the most boxes. Friends can also keep an eye on children and pets. Friends can even help you with some of the unpacking and decorating of your new home. Reward them with a pizza and beverages and throw a moving party afterwards.

A Nutt :: Jun.12.2009 :: Family :: No Comments »

Whether you have just been learning how to play or have been enjoying the sounds of the piano for years, you may be considering purchasing your first piano for your home. The piano is one of the most durable musical instruments ever created, made of quality hardwoods and forged steel parts. A piano will be the perfect addition to any home and will give you many years of enjoyment. Read on for some tips to help you buy the perfect first piano.

Evaluate the size you need.

Its wonderful to imagine yourself playing a symphony on a grand piano, however, your house may not accommodate a piano of that size and weight. Consider the area of your home where the piano will be used the most. Will you have a special music room or will the piano be incorporated into another living area such as your family room? You also need to think about who will be playing the piano and what height will be best suited for your musician. Piano weight and size are important to consider as your home must be able to accommodate whatever you choose.

Find a budget that works for you.

The cost of a piano can range anywhere from $500 to $10,000, so a budget should be at the top of your mind when you are considering what kind to purchase. If you are a regular piano player and use it as part of your livelihood, such as if you are a professional musician or composer, than you may want a nicer model. If the piano is just for occasional family use, then a less expensive version is probably the best way to go.

New vs. old.

Fortunately, pianos are so durable that they last for many many years. That means that often pianos outlive their owners and end up in used music equipment stores or antique shops. Depending on your personal tastes, an older antique model may suit you versus a brand new electronic piano. Keep in mind that the older the piano, the less likely you will be able to find parts for it if it needs repair, as many of the older pianos were handmade. New pianos have more bells and whistles and so they may not have the deep sound you are looking for.

Style and form of the piano.

If you are dreaming of a baby grand, but you dont have the space in your home, perhaps a nice upright piano would be better suited? Or you may want a piano that is more portable, like keyboards. There are many different styles and forms of pianos to consider when making a purchase. You may want to ask the local music store to show you a catalogue of the different types of pianos before you make your selection.

Whichever piano you decide to purchase, it will be the focal point for any room in your home. You will enjoy years of beautiful music that you can share with friends and family with a quality piano.

Amy Nutt :: Jun.12.2009 :: Entertainment :: No Comments »

Business Carpet Cleaning is not the same as residential carpet cleaning. There is a similarity, but there is a deference. If you carpet cleaner has a truck mount system he may not be able to complete the job properly with his usual process. If he has portables, that can lead to a different type of cleaning process that you had expected.

When hireing a professional carpet cleaninging firm to perform commercial carpet cleaning for your business invite them into your business and have them look around so they can explain to you the type of cleaning that can be performed. FOr more information you can call PowerPRO Carpet Cleaning at 1–800–253–2669  Ask for Rich Moore

powerpronyc :: Jun.11.2009 :: Business :: No Comments »

We find that many people are interested in finding ways to save money on international mobile phone calls. It is now possible to make cheap international mobile phone calls from nearly any country. We have listed three of these options below. One nice thing about these options is that they can be used with any existing service provider without changing anything. They are also convenient to use and there are no extra fees for activating or maintaining the service. Therefore, they are good options for both short and long-term use. Two of these plans offer free international call trials so interested parties can try them out before making a purchase.

The following three options for making cheap international calls from mobile phones offer high call quality at low prices. They also do not charge hidden fees or use other tricks to rip-off consumers. The best option depends on the location of the caller and other factors so it is best to review all of the options before making a purchasing decision.

Tel3 Mobile – This is a relatively new mobile phone international calling plan that can be used to make cheap international calls from mobile phones in the USA and Canada. It is a sister plan to the Tel3Advantage Flex Plan which is one of the most popular prepaid long distance calling plans in North America. The company has been in the prepaid long distance business since around 1990 and they are known for high quality, innovative technology and fair prices. It is a very good international calling plan with competitive rates on calls to almost any country.

Rebtel – This is a relatively new international prepaid calling plan that has a different twist. For one, it can be used to make cheap international calls from over 50 countries and calls can be made without dialing an account number or PIN code. They assign customers a local phone number when they open an account. The user can then dial this local number and is automatically connected with a phone in another country. One potential problem with this option is that it can only be used to call one phone number so it is not very versatile. However, it is simple to use and is ideal for those who just want to call one number in one location without dialing a lot of numbers and codes.

Prepaid Phone Cards – These can be used to make cheap international calls from mobile phones in more than 90 countries. Many high quality international phone cards can be used without dialing an account number or PIN code so they are very easy to use. They also feature ultimate flexibility and very low rates. Callers can choose from a wide variety of phone cards so they can easily find the best one for their specific needs. They are also ideal for travelers or those who only have a short-term need.

Any one of these options can save users 80 or 90% on the cost of making international calls from their mobile phones without sacrificing quality or flexibility.

rdgraham535 :: Jun.07.2009 :: Business, Shopping, Travel :: No Comments »